BY: TIM CARPENTER AND SHERMAN SMITH
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — An intense confrontation between a Republican and Democrat on the Kansas House floor Thursday during a gun debate forced the chamber into a two-hour recess as leadership worked to deescalate tensions.
Democrats accused Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican, of trying to start a fight with Rep. Ford Carr, a Wichita Democrat, by launching obscenities at Carr. The confrontation took place at Carr’s desk on the House floor.
The incident happened during debate over House Bill 2104, which would require school districts to implement an NRA program known as Eddie Eagle in public elementary schools, starting in kindergarten, if the schools want to teach gun safety. It was among dozens of bills the House has debated this week ahead of a deadline to advance legislation.
Rep. Kirk Haskins, a Topeka Democrat, interrupted legislators debating the NRA curriculum bill and called for a point of order, citing “a need for decorum.” Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, then came to the front of the House chamber and asked for Hoheisel to be admonished.
“While I did not observe everything that occurred, I heard exactly what happened,” Carmichael said. “The member strolled through the Democratic seats using profanity, and in my view, from what I heard, was attempting to incite a fight. And I ask that the member be admonished never to do that again.”
In an interview, Carmichael said Hoheisel thumped a finger on Carr’s desk and repeatedly said, “That’s bulls***.”
After House Republican leadership recessed the House to break the tension, House Democrats banned reporters from a secret meeting at the Capitol to discuss the situation. Kansas Reflector obtained an audio recording of that meeting, in which members raise concerns about Hoheisel’s behavior and whether he was carrying a gun.
Hoheisel declined to comment for this story but disputed claims made by Democrats.
“I’m not going to dignify any of those false and outlandish allegations with a response,” Hoheisel said in a text message.
Carr didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment, but in the secret meeting, he joked about his willingness to get in a fight. Last month, he shoved another Democratic legislator to the ground during a bar fracas with a Wichita councilman. Democrats laughed at the reference during their secret meeting.
“I know that side of the aisle, and they constantly vote for gun rights,” Carr said. “I also know that some of them carry guns. I have one in my office. There’s a strong possibility that that gun will be on my person unless something is done, right?”
Carr continued: “He got up, he came over to me, and he made attacks. I can’t honestly see how someone of his stature would feel comfortable making those kind of attacks at me” — he paused for laughter — “unless, of course, he feels like he has some sort of an equalizer. So at this point, I feel like I need to equal and level the playing field.”
Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Lawrence Democrat who runs House Democratic caucus meetings, said in the caucus meeting: “I understand what you’re saying along those lines, but what we’re asking is that we deescalate what happened.”
House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard, a Lenexa Democrat, told his caucus: “Everyone needs to breathe.”
“Him coming up to you on the floor and saying that s*** is bull****, but we can’t stoop to the low level of Republicans,” Woodard said during the closed meeting of Democrats.
Several Democrats, including Rep. Heather Meyer, an Overland Park Democrat, said they didn’t feel safe on the House floor.
Meyer asked her fellow Democrats “to remember that some of us have extensive, long-term trauma from gun violence, and we need to be chill.”
“This kind of talk makes me nervous, makes me not want to go back on the floor today, makes me want to go the f*** home,” Meyer said. “I am done with gun violence, and I just need you guys to remember that. Because I’m sitting here listening to this conversation thinking if I even want to be here, because it’s f***ing scary, and I am tired of being put in the line of fire.”
When the House reconvened, with a larger than usual Capitol Police presence on the floor, Republican leadership canceled the scheduled votes on the Eddie Eagle bill, as well as a proposed constitutional amendment that would assert a God-given right to own guns, ammunition and firearm accessories.
House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, and Woodard issued a joint statement on the “events that transpired on the House floor,” but didn’t respond to a request to explain what happened.
“The House of Representatives remains focused on the 2025 legislative session and completing the work we have been sent here to do,” they said in the joint statement. “The legislative session is an immense undertaking that requires a unified effort. We appreciate the continued dedication of our House members to the people of Kansas.”
Carmichael, who said he declined to participate in the meeting of House Democrats because it wasn’t open to the press, said Republican leadership did the right thing in the moment by shutting down debate and skipping over the gun bills.
“In the longer term,” Carmichael said, “leadership is going to have to have long conversations with some of their members.”
“I do not feel safe on the floor under these circumstances,” Carmichael added. “This situation with immature hotheads with guns on the floor needs to end.”