The Kansas Statehouse in Topeka

Topeka ? A bill that would prohibit people convicted of domestic violence from owning firearms in Kansas is now on its way to Gov. Jeff Colyer.

The House on Thursday voted to pass House Bill 2145, despite concerns over some amendments that the Senate had added to the bill.

It is already illegal under federal law for people convicted of domestic violence to own or possess guns for five years after their conviction.

The bill is intended to make it easier for local authorities to prosecute those same crimes in state court because, advocates for the bill said, federal prosecutors rarely take those cases unless they are tied to larger crimes.

The bill, which brings state law into partial conformity with federal law, also makes it illegal for people subject to protection from stalking and abuse orders, fugitives from justice and people in the country illegally to own or possess firearms.

The original bill passed the House in February, 120-0.

The Senate, however, added two amendments. One loosens current restrictions on possessing throwing stars by making that illegal only if someone does it with the intent to cause harm. The other allows people to own gun silencers, if those devices are entirely made in Kansas.

As a result, the bill had been sent to a conference committee. But on Thursday, with the regular portion of the 2018 legislative session winding down, the House voted 113-6 to concur with the Senate changes, thus sending the bill to the governor’s desk.

“The other two things in the bill are unnecessary, but not so offensive to prevent us from taking a good first step forward,” House Democratic Leader Jim Ward, of Wichita, said in support of the motion.

Jo Ella Hoye, an activist with the Kansas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, called passage of the bill a victory, even though it doesn’t go as far as many people in that group would like.

“We certainly keep up messages of supporting sensible gun laws that save lives, but this is a huge step in the right direction for gun safety in Kansas,” she said in an interview after the vote.

The bill also had support from the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, the Kansas Peace Officers Association and the Kansas Sheriffs Association.

Lawmakers still have another gun-related bill in a conference committee. House Bill 2042, known as a reciprocity bill, would allow people with out-of-state permits to carry concealed weapons to do so legally in Kansas so that Kansans with concealed-carry permits could do so legally in other states as well.

The House, however, added amendments lowering the age for obtaining a permit to 18 from 21. And it added a provision allowing public colleges and universities to prohibit people who do not have such permits from carrying concealed firearms on campus. The Senate removed those provisions from its version of the bill.