New state officials give life to open carry debate
By Roy Ockert Jr.
June 9, 2015
Several new state officials have fired up the debate on whether Arkansas citizens can carry a gun openly, contradicting an attorney general’s opinion and the stance of most law enforcement officers.
The question is whether Act 746 of 2013 allows one to carry a handgun openly almost anywhere. I wrote about the dilemma shortly before the law became effective that summer because gun-rights advocates were claiming that open carry (which some prefer to call “constitutional carry”) had been authorized.
The primary sponsor of Act 746, then-state Rep. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith, cleverly hid open carry in his legislation, which was titled as intending to make “technical corrections” in the possession of handguns and other weapons. After being amended a couple of times, Altes’ bill passed without opposition, and then-Gov. Mike Beebe signed it.
The legislation authorizes any citizen over 18, not just one with a concealed carry permit, to carry a handgun (or possibly any firearm — there is a contradiction in the language) if that person is on “a journey beyond the county in which the person lives ...”
Further, Act 746 decriminalized the offense of carrying a handgun, knife or club, specifying that a prosecutor would have to prove the intent to unlawfully use such weapon against a person.
Another more obvious attempt to authorize open carry was withdrawn after Altes’ bill passed.
Later, a spokesman for Beebe said the governor did not interpret the law as allowing citizens to carry firearms openly in public places. Stan Witt, then director of the Arkansas State Police, said in answer to a question at a Jonesboro civic club meeting that anybody who should try to carry a gun openly would be arrested.
In response to a question from a state senator, then-Attorney General Dustin McDaniel issued an official opinion that Act 746 does not allow open carry, either on a journey or otherwise. Part of the reasoning in the opinion was the apparent legislative intent to modify only the rights and obligations of individuals who have obtained concealed carry permits.
Nevertheless, several rallies were held around the state, with open carry proponents strapping on their sidearms, and nobody got arrested.
Now Arkansas has new people in many critical elective positions, and several have said they believe the current law allows people to carry handguns openly.
Responding to a question last week from a Fort Smith television reporter, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said, “I interpret it [Act 746] to mean an individual may carry so long as he or she does so without the intent to unlawfully employ it against another person. But any time law enforcement and citizens disagree on a law, we need to ensure there is clarity to protect our citizens. I am committed to working with the General Assembly to clarify any confusion surrounding Act 746 and its intent.”
Pity she didn’t ask the Legislature to clarify the law during its session earlier this year.
Rutledge, who based her campaign last year in part on her status as a “gun-toting woman,” hasn’t issued a formal opinion, but that shouldn’t take long. She just needs to get some other public official to ask the question.
Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin would surely oblige. He expressed the same opinion as Rutledge in a Facebook post recently and then confirmed his statement last week. He noted, however, that some legislators have said they didn’t intend that result but that others did. Therefore, the law might need to be clarified in a general legislative session.
That can’t happen until 2017 so the confusion could continue for another year and a half. Even if Rutledge issues a formal opinion contradicting McDaniel’s, no attorney general’s opinion has the force of law.
That leaves the issue up to law enforcement officers and prosecutors, and more seem to be coming to the conclusion that they can’t enforce the law as currently written.
Even Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor, chimed in to say that the current law does not prohibit openly carrying a handgun as long as the person carrying it doesn’t intend to commit a crime. He apparently has some misgivings, though. “I think you know, it’s not something that you encourage,” he told a reporter for Little Rock TV station KTHV. “I think you have to evaluate it in terms of what the constitutional rights are and what the law is.”
Indeed, open carry would seem to take us back to the days of the Wild West, when many citizens felt the need to pack pistols at their sides and occasionally to enforce the law themselves.
That’s apparently where we’re headed. Carrying a firearm in a concealed manner is already legal in all 50 states, most with some restrictions such as schools, college campuses, churches, bars and athletic events.
Only six states, not including Arkansas, now prohibit open carry outright, according to a Wall Street Journal article last year. And The Associated Press reported on May 29 that Texas had moved out of that group, passing a law that allows a citizen to obtain a permit to carry a handgun in a visible holster.
Otherwise, Texas has been among the states with the most relaxed gun laws, even allowing a citizen with a concealed weapon permit to skip the metal detectors at the state Capitol. Arkansas hasn’t gone that far yet.
Roy Ockert is editor emeritus of The Jonesboro Sun. He may be reached by e-mail at royo@suddenlink.net.