Topeka ? Supporters of concealed weapons have set their sights on Kansas and plan to ask lawmakers to consider a gun bill next year, said Phil Journey, president of the Kansas State Rifle Assn.

Supporters have drawn strength from the Missouri General Assembly’s recent passage of a concealed-gun law over the veto of Gov. Bob Holden, Journey said.

“I think it will help me tremendously with our grassroots efforts,” said Journey, of Wichita.

In 1997 lawmakers in Topeka passed a concealed-gun bill. Then-Gov. Bill Graves killed the measure with a veto. Nothing much happened afterward.

Last year, as gun restrictions eased in state after state and some people worried about personal vulnerability after terrorist attacks, the issue emerged from slumber. Next year the Kansas Legislature could see its own debate.

“There’s more legislative support for conceal-carry, and more constituent support; the president favors it, and now with Missouri, that puts a lot of pressure on,” said Kansas Sen. Tim Huelskamp of Fowler, a leading supporter of the issue.

As governor of Texas, President Bush had signed a concealed gun proposal into law.

In Kansas much depends on the veto pen of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

For now Sebelius will not reveal if she would veto a concealed-gun bill.

“I supported the bill that would have allowed retired law enforcement officers to carry a weapon, but nothing beyond that,” Sebelius said. “But I don’t know what will be introduced or what they will do with it.”

In the past there has been considerable opposition to concealed guns in Kansas. Polls taken in the 1990s showed a majority of state residents did not favor carrying concealed weapons.

When the measure passed the Legislature in 1997, the House approved it overwhelmingly but the Senate only narrowly. Since then the conservative wing of the Republican Party has increased its influence in the Legislature. Advocates of a gun bill think it would carry in both the House and Senate next year.

In both Kansas and Missouri, the NRA and its allies wield plenty of clout. They marshal letter-writing and telephone campaigns that persuade lawmakers to vote their way.

Even a longtime opponent of concealed guns, Kansas Sen. David Adkins of Leawood, predicts the issue will return to the forefront.

“They’re coming,” he said of concealed guns. “Kansas is obviously in the crosshairs on this.”