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HB 2127

Authorizing cities and counties to regulate the sale and purchase of firearms and ammunition within a building owned by such city or county.

2025-2026 Regular Session

HB 2127 lets cities/counties regulate firearm and ammo sales inside buildings they own, creating a narrow local carve-out to state preemption.

Died in Committee
#cities #counties #firearms
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Bill Summary · HB 2127

Summary — HB 2127 (Kansas)

Authorizing cities and counties to regulate sale/purchase of firearms and ammunition within buildings owned by the city or county

Bill at a glance

  • Bill number: HB 2127
  • Subject: Local regulation of firearms and ammunition commerce in municipal/county-owned buildings
  • Statute affected: K.S.A. 12-16,124 (local preemption of firearms regulation)
  • Introduced: Jan 27–28, 2025
  • Stated status (from provided materials): Referred to Committee on Federal and State Affairs
  • Effective date in bill: Act takes effect upon publication in the statute book (per Sec. 3 of the introduced version)

Purpose / intent

HB 2127 seeks to modify Kansas’s local preemption statute for firearms by creating an exception that would allow cities and counties to adopt and enforce ordinances, resolutions or regulations specifically addressing the sale or purchase of firearms, ammunition, or components — but only when those transactions occur inside a building owned by that city or county.

Key provisions / changes

  • Amends K.S.A. 12-16,124 (current law generally prohibits cities/counties from regulating fees, licenses, commerce, sale, purchase, transfer, ownership, storage, carrying, transporting, or taxation of firearms/ammunition).
  • Adds an exception (listed as item (5) in subsection (c) of the introduced text): a city or county may adopt and enforce ordinances/resolutions/regulations relating to the sale or purchase of firearms or ammunition within any building owned by that city or county.
  • The introduced draft also contains a Section 2 that states “K.S.A. 12-16,124 is hereby repealed,” which appears inconsistent with Section 1’s amendment and may reflect drafting or sequencing issues; final enrolled language should be checked.

Who would be affected

  • Local governments (cities/counties): gain limited authority to regulate firearm/ammunition sales/purchases inside their own buildings (e.g., city halls, county-owned public buildings).
  • Firearm and ammunition sellers or purchasers conducting transactions inside municipal/county-owned buildings.
  • State-level uniformity of firearm regulation could be modestly affected — the change creates narrowly geographically-limited regulatory authority that could produce differing rules across jurisdictions (but only within government-owned buildings).

Fiscal and legal considerations

  • Fiscal note (Kansas Division of the Budget, Feb. 24, 2025): The Office of the Attorney General warned enactment could prompt constitutional litigation; defense costs could exceed $1.0 million per fiscal year (estimate imprecise). The League of Kansas Municipalities and Kansas Association of Counties indicated negligible fiscal effect on local governments. The Governor’s FY 2026 budget did not reflect related costs.
  • Legal risk centers on state preemption and constitutional challenges; municipalities may face defense costs if sued.

Procedural / timeline (selected entries from provided record)

  • Introduced/Filed: Jan 27–28, 2025
  • Referred to Committee on Federal and State Affairs: Jan 29, 2025
  • Fiscal note issued: Feb 24, 2025
  • Multiple committee and reading entries are listed in the provided record; users should verify current status on the official Kansas Legislature website because some included entries appear inconsistent or may reflect parallel tracking/edits.

Notes

  • The bill’s core change is narrowly focused (it does not broadly remove state preemption) — it creates a carve‑out limited to conduct occurring inside buildings owned by the relevant local government.
  • Because the draft contains an apparent internal inconsistency (amend then repeal the same section), consult the final enrolled/official bill text for authoritative language.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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