• Survey Results
• 2nd Amendment Progress Report
• Convention Reminder

Nearly 200 people across Kansas weighed in on our first survey. We thank everyone who took time to express their opinion. We closed the survey last week and have started the process of trying to determine what our supporters are telling us. But, more on that in a minute.

Long time readers of these missives may recall that Kansas State Law permits open carry of fire arms anywhere in the state without a special license. State law specifically prohibits any political jurisdiction within Kansas from enacting an outright ban on open carry although they may more regulate the manner of openly carrying a loaded firearm.
In spite of this clear statute on the books, a number of jurisdictions, including Prairie Village and Leawood, have passed ordinances prohibiting open carry. Several months ago, we (the Libertarian Party of Kansas) filed suit against Prairie Village and Leawood to overturn their ordinances.
As filed, the suit had three plaintiffs: LPKS; Libertarian Party Chair, Al Terwelp, who lives in Osage County; and 2nd Amendment chair, Earl McIntosh, who lives in Shawnee County. A few days ago, the judge in the case dismissed LPKS as a plaintiff reasoning that LPKS, as a political party, can’t carry a weapon therefore is not harmed by the ordinance and thus does not have ‘standing’ to file the case.
For now, he has not ruled on the ‘standing’ of the other two plaintiffs.
This is not a set-back in our case and is a normal part of the legal wrangling we must endure. Even if he were to rule Terwelp and McIntosh lack ‘standing’ because they live outside Johnson County, we have an alternate Plan “B”.
Our State Convention is only one week off. It will be April 20 on the campus of Emporia State University. There is no cost to attend. However, if you want a box lunch on Saturday, you must reserve it SOON. With all that is going on in the state, this should be an active meeting with much information available on how to grow our party across Kansas.
We have started the arduous task of evaluating responses to our survey. Over the next several weeks, we will discuss the results. We also hope to have some fairly concrete information available next weekend in Emporia. If you have questions, please ask. Just hit ‘reply’ and let us know what you think. We will respond to as many as we are able.
Of course, one of our major areas of concern is how successfully we are getting our message out. We use these weekly emails. In addition, we send our quarterly publication Free Kansan. We have also started organizing Libertarian groups in many counties across the state.
We were pleased to learn that 87% of respondents receive our weekly emails. Of those who were directed to the survey from our web page, 43% receive these missives. Significantly, nearly everyone who doesn’t, asked to be added to the email list. [Welcome, newcomers to this effort.]
Readership is equally impressive. Less than 6% said they ‘seldom’ or ‘never’ read our publications. Over 75% said they “appreciate that [our e-pubs] keep [them] informed about activity across the state.” That goes up to a whopping 88% of respondents coming from our web page.
One respondent implored us to “Improve the quality of writing. It comes across as amateurish and unprofessional.” Ouch! Are you volunteering?
Not everyone was so critical. “I think the publications are a great tool. However, I don’t think enough people actually see it.” wrote one. “Libertarianism is one of those best kept secrets that needs to gain a wide audience.” added another. “Our current publications are aimed at the believer and do not talk about local libertarian issues.” observed a third.
This was a common thread in the responses to this question. The purpose of our e-publications is to keep Libertarians across the state ‘in the loop’ so we can present a better coordinated story. Outreach, we hope, will be accomplished by our network of groups in counties across the state.
Most respondents know of this effort and a third said they know of a group nearby. Of the others, nearly 40% would like to find a group nearby. In the comments, several made good suggestions on how our county groups can be improved or asked to be directed to a local group. As time permits, we will follow up on all of these requests.
That’s it for now. We look forward to visiting more with all our supporters at the convention next weekend. Don’t forget to reserve your lunch.
Incidentally, our legal challenge in support of the 2nd Amendment is expensive. Even though our attorney is serving Pro Bono (free), there are still filing fees and other expenses. They are adding up.

Please consider supporting this effort financially.