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There's a rush to buy guns and stock-up on ammunition in parts of the country. Many Americans think that's necessary, fearing the Obama administration will strip or reduce their rights with federal gun laws.
"I keep a constitution with me. You can tell, it's a little [worn], because I go through it a lot," Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton said.
Sheriff Walton takes his oath seriously.
"I swear to obey and go forward with the constitution of the United States. This is the constitution of the United States. And, Amendment Two makes it pretty clear that people have a right to bear arms," Sheriff Walton said.
Sheriff Walton doubts there will be serious change in federal gun laws. But, he says talk about the possibility has his office answering a lot of questions.
"We were getting almost a call a day, people calling to ask if I'm coming out to get their guns. No, I'm not coming to get your guns," Sheriff Walton said.
Eyewitness News checked with other sheriffs in our area. The sheriffs in Reno, Sumner, and Sedgwick counties say the same thing... they will uphold the second amendment.
Some state lawmakers agree. Several bills on the topic are working their way through committees, including House Bill 2199. Representative John Rubin wrote the bill.
"Any federal law, rule, regulation, or order that violates the second amendment to the constitution is null, void, and unenforceable in Kansas," Representative Rubin said.
"I think the state is doing a good job by saying we're going to protect your constitutional amendment, we're going to protect that, I like that," Sheriff Walton said.
Sheriff Walton also says a federal law won't change his stance either.
"Even if there's a federal mandate, I am not coming to get those guns," Sheriff Walton said.
Just last week we told you about the record number of Kansans applying for concealed carry permits. In January, the Attorney General's Office received more than 31-hundred applications. That's a new one month record.
The Harvey County Sheriff's Office is seeing a similar trend. In 2010, there were 53 permits for the year. In 2012, there were 172.