The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution provides for the right to keep and bear arms, and reads: "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

Some people believe this language creates a Constitutional, individual right for citizens of the United States to keep and bear arms, and prohibits Congress and state legislatures from prohibiting or restricting the possession of firearms.

Others believe the beginning words ("A well regulated militia being necessary”) indicate the intent of the Amendment was only to restrict Congress from limiting a state’s right to self-defense. This collective rights theory of the Second Amendment holds that citizens do not have an individual right to possess firearms, and that federal, state, and local legislative bodies may regulate the possession of firearms without implicating a Constitutional right.

At the time the First Amendment was ratified, some militia members used their own weapons, and some used weapons from their state’s militia stores.

In Kansas, the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution is upheld, recognizing the right of individuals to keep and bear arms. Kansas statutes reflect a strong tradition of gun rights, and the state has enacted laws that protect the individual right to possess firearms. The state preempts local regulation of firearms with some exceptions, and it has a 'constitutional carry' law, which allows individuals to carry concealed firearms without a permit, provided they are legally entitled to possess a firearm under federal and state law. The debate over whether the Second Amendment protects an individual or collective right to bear arms has been largely settled in favor of the individual rights interpretation, particularly following the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), which affirmed the individual right to possess firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. While Kansas recognizes the individual right to bear arms, it also has certain regulations in place, such as prohibiting possession by certain individuals and regulating the carrying of firearms in specific locations.