A legislative committee in Arkansas will offer suggestions for revising the state’s firearms restrictions

Little Rock, Arkansas – The Game, Fish, and State Police Subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council resumed its examination of the state’s gun regulations on Monday. The research was started in August of last year.

The study’s objective is to update Arkansas’s gun-related legislation, including those pertaining to hunting and concealed carry.

The state’s current gun regulations are complicated and conflicting, and lawmakers are working to make them more straightforward.

“There’s no consistency throughout and that’s what we’re looking at, is to get a consistency where the state police, the Sheriff’s Association, the prosecutor will all interpret these laws the same way and there’s no ‘ifs’, ‘ands’, or ‘buts’ about what’s being said because it’ll be written where everyone can understand it,” stated State Sen. Ricky Hill, (R) District 11, who serves as co-chair.

The subcommittee’s recommendations have included significant modifications to Arkansas’s gun laws, with a particular emphasis on the state’s ambiguous carry regulations.

“We’ve discussed everywhere from where you have the enhanced carry license to just the concealed carry license to where you can carry a gun to and who’s allowed to carry in the state of Arkansas,” Hill said.

Removing school bus stops from the list of places where carrying is forbidden and combining the two types of concealed carry licenses into one are just two of the numerous proposals the committee has developed.

Another is to think about restoring the right to bear arms to people who were wrongfully confined to a mental health facility.

Proponents of stricter gun laws fear that the study could result in more lax regulations overall.
“We should be trying in every way we can to keep our citizens and our children from violence of any kind and gun violence is one of those leading causes,” said State Rep. Tippi McCullough, (D) District “so, yes, it could be a great opportunity and I hope it’s not just a guise to expand more guns.”

If and when the subcommittee’s final report reaches the state legislature in January, negotiations will begin to draft whatever recommendations are included in it.

“That’s the time to try to change, make better, try to do away with, push back, support, whatever comes up, for sure, I think that that’s going to be the time to mostly do that,” said McCullough.
On Monday, the panel proposed extending the October 1 deadline for its final report to October 17.