Campus Gun Bill Likely To Be Changed, Lawmakers Say

— A bill to allow some concealed carry permit holders to bring guns onto public college and university campuses will probably not pass in its current form, a House co-sponsor said Tuesday.

State Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, told a public forum Saturday that House Bill 1243 by Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, will probably have to be amended to pass. Dotson co-sponsors the bill, which is set to come before the House Education Committee on Tuesday. Dotson made his comments at a forum of Benton County legislators Saturday morning at NorthWest Arkansas Community College.

Rep. Les “Skip” Carnine, R-Rogers, is a member of the House Education committee. He is also a former school administrator in the Little Rock and Witchita Falls, Texas, school districts. Large school districts such as those had students who where heavily involved in gang-related gun violence, he said. Keeping campuses safe is a difficult, multi-faceted problem. “As the bill is currently written, I’d vote no,” Carnine said. “That said, I’m glad somebody stood up and said we need to do something.”

The forum of lawmakers in heavily Republican Benton County had most members expressing reservations about the bill. Rep. Dan Douglas, R-Bentonville, said he believed the bill as written created more potential for accidents than it would increase campus safety. Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers, said the bill was “rushing to judgment” on a complex issue.

Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, said the bill wasn’t being rushed and the bill was the result of years of effort. Hester is lead Senate sponsor of the bill. “This is not a knee-jerk reaction” to recent school shootings, Hester said. “We’re not talking about arming everybody,” he said. This is a bill about whether an individual gun owner has the right to take his weapon with him if he decides one is needed for his protection, Hester said.

Joe Spivey, a member of the NWACC board, told the panel he was “initially strongly for it” but cannot support the bill in its current form. “I think there’s a lot of holes,” such as possible liability for the college if guns are allowed on campus.

“I took a concealed weapons course after this was proposed,” Spivey said. “The day I received my half-day of training, I was next to someone who had literally never opened the box to the gun until 15 minutes earlier, and had never used a gun before.”

“We don’t need someone at the operating end of a gun, not knowing what to do with it,” Spivey said.

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