By: Teresa Mull

As more lawmakers make moves to empower themselves in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, Republican lawmakers in Kansas are working to ensure the state’s governor doesn’t overstep her bounds.

The AP reports:

As most of the U.S. raced to get ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, Republican lawmakers in Kansas moved Wednesday to limit their Democratic (Gov. Laura Kelly’s) emergency powers, including the ability to establish quarantine zones if the need arises.

House Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch, who helped draft the final version, told fellow Republicans that the goal is to address the pandemic with "the lightest touch possible.”

“There is a concern about civil liberties, a concern about the proper exercise of government authority and not wanting it to be too extreme,” said Finch, an eastern Kansas attorney.

According to the AP, the GOP is worried Kelly will use her powers to infringe on the Second Amendment, as others in the nation have done already.

GPM reported earlier this week that New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell (D) had joined Champaign, Illinois Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen in exploiting the Coronavirus crisis to ban the sale and transfer of firearms. And just yesterday, Georgia’s high court ruled the right to self-defense is not “essential” and stopped processing concealed carry permit applications.

Teresa Mull is editor of Gunpowder Magazine. Contact her at [email protected].