Short Circuit 416 | Kansas Two-Steps

Short Circuit 416 | Kansas Two-Steps

From Short Circuit by Institute for Justice

February 20, 2026 · 1h 4m

About this episode

The episode discusses police tactics in Kansas related to marijuana laws and recent court cases regarding knife restrictions in California.

In Colorado marijuana is legal under state law. In Kansas it is not. This had led Kansan police officers to stop a lot of cars with out-of-state plates. And after they stop the cars they come up with tactics to prolong the stops to buy time to look for weed. One of these tactics is the “Kansas Two-Step.” A lawsuit, on behalf of innocent people caught up in these stops, challenged the whole scheme, leading to a big-time injunction against the police. But, as IJ’s Jared McClain explains, on appeal the Tenth Circuit thought the injunction was just too big—even though the court recognized there were a lot of constitutional violations. Then we move to the Ninth Circuit where switchblade owners challenged California’s knife restrictions. Nick DeBenedetto tells us how the court upheld the law in a Second Amendment challenge and what Bowie knives (and various other weapons you may not be familiar with) have to do with it. Finally, we bring you the latest in our #12Months12Circuits series with a look at the Second Circuit, the circuit of the Big Apple. Shaw v. Smith Knife Rights v. Bonta Rodriguez v. U.S. Nunchucks case Our Second Circuit episode

People in this episode

Guest: Jared McClain

Topics covered

  • law enforcement
  • constitutional rights
  • marijuana laws
  • Second Amendment
  • court cases
  • police tactics

Keywords

  • Kansas Two-Step
  • marijuana legality
  • constitutional violations
  • Second Amendment
  • knife restrictions
  • Tenth Circuit
  • Ninth Circuit

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Institute for Justice

Places: Colorado, Kansas, California

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