Topeka ? Gov. Sam Brownback on Monday defended a gun rights bill he signed into law last year, despite an announcement that a national gun control organization plans to challenge it in federal court.

“As I have said previously, the right to keep and bear arms is a right that Kansans hold dear,” Brownback said in a statement released Monday. “It is a right enshrined not only in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, but also protected by the Kansas Bill of Rights. The people of Kansas have repeatedly and overwhelmingly reaffirmed their commitment to protecting this fundamental right.”

The statement came shortly after the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence announced it plans to challenge the law in federal court.

The Brady Campaign is named after President Ronald Reagan’s former press secretary James Brady, who was critically wounded by gunfire during an assassination attempt against the president in 1981.

Last year, Brownback signed Senate Bill 102 which, among other things, says that personal firearms, firearm accessories and ammunition that are both manufactured in Kansas and that remain within the borders of Kansas are not subject to any federal law or regulation.

When the bill was passed, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder wrote Brownback to say he believed the law was unconstitutional.

“The United States will take all appropriate action, including litigation if necessary, to prevent the State of Kansas from interfering with the activities of federal officials enforcing the law,” Holder wrote.

Although the U.S. Constitution gives Congress authority to regulate interstate commerce, the law specifically states that the Kansas Legislature considers guns that are both manufactured and kept in Kansas to be outside the scope of that provision.

The law, known as the Second Amendment Protection Act, also cites the Constitution’s 10th Amendment, which reserves to the people and the states those powers not delegated to Congress nor prohibited to the states; the Ninth Amendment, which says the people retain certain rights even if they are not enumerated in the Constitution; and the Bill of Rights of the Kansas Constitution, which declares the right to bear arms is an individual right, rather than a collective right.

The Brady Campaign has said it plans to announce details of its lawsuit on Wednesday.

“The Obama administration attacked this legislation when I signed it more than one year ago,” Brownback said. “It now appears that they have found some Washington, D.C., lawyers to do their bidding. We will vigorously defend the rights of Kansans in this litigation.”