TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Leaders of the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature agreed Sunday that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's statewide stay-at-home order is necessary to help check the spread of the new coronavirus, allowing it to take effect Monday as planned.

It helped Kelly's case that the exceptions in her order for "essential" outside-the-home activities include religious worship and buying, selling and manufacturing guns and ammunition.

"You always want to balance your safety with rights," said House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a Republican from Olathe in Johnson County, which has more than...