Have gun, will conceal

Collins gave opponents ammo to fight concealed carry expansion

Promoting the proliferation of guns on the campuses of Arkansas' colleges and universities isn't a good idea.

Is that what state Rep. Charlie Collins of Fayetteville is trying to do?

Universities and colleges are among the places Arkansas exempts from its concealed carry laws. In other words, if you're issued a permit by the Arkansas State Police to carry a concealed handgun in the state, you still cannot legally walk onto a college campus with the gun. Collins sought to change that by making it legal for faculty and staff who are permit holders to keep their guns with them on campus. He never proposed any change to the ban on students having handguns, but has argued faculty and staff who obtain the permit would be a good first line of defense against a campus shooter. His first effort failed.

In 2013, Collins tried again but met heavy resistance from the people who control college campuses, namely the boards of trustees, administrations and campus faculties. He relented and allowed for inclusion of an opt-out provision. His bill passed 70-11 in the House. It made it legal for concealed carry permittees to have their handguns on campus. But the opt-out provision empowered university leaders to decide for themselves every year whether to follow the intent of the state law.

It was, or should have been, entirely predictable that in the last two years all 33 public campuses in the state chose to opt out of Collins' legislation. Opponents to Collins' efforts, such as Fayetteville Rep. Greg Leding, argued in 2013 that the state Legislature should make the decision, not individual campus administrations. Now, in 2015, when Collins wants to remove the opt-out provision, those forces argue the Legislature should heed the wise choices made by campus administrators.

Opponents to Collins' bill view it as promoting the proliferation of handguns on campus. There is a difference, however, between promoting and allowing. Lawmakers "allow" the use of federal money to pay for private insurance for lower-income Arkansans, but they specifically passed a law disallowing the use of any state funds to "promote" the program.

By having a process to issue concealed carry permits, the state Legislature embraces giving authority for some people to carry hidden guns in locations where it would be illegal for an unpermitted person to have one. People who avail themselves of that public policy are finger-printed, reviewed by the federal and state governments for criminal backgrounds, and must go through a few hours of training.

After approval, they can carry their handguns, but the state has carved out so many exempted locations, carrying is like walking across a checkerboard in which red represents locations where it's allowed and black represents locations where it's not. Walk down Dickson Avenue in Fayetteville with a concealed handgun and it's legal; cross Arkansas Avenue onto campus and it's not.

Walk down Walton Boulevard in Bentonville with the handgun in your jacket pocket and you're fine; if you step into a meeting of the City Council, you're violating the law.

Take a hike on the Razorback Greenway with a concealed handgun and you're legal; stroll over to watch an "athletic event" at a nearby soccer or baseball field and you're not.

Go into a restaurant that serves alcohol with your concealed handgun and it's fine; go into a bar and it's not.

The hodge-podge of locations makes it challenging for law-abiding people, while those more likely to shoot up someplace -- people who do not care about complying with the state's laws -- cross those boundaries with abandon.

Collins suggestion -- that rational people can responsibly carry a firearm -- reflects the state's policy, but state leaders cannot resist carving out supposedly gun-free zones for certain constituencies.

Interestingly, though, Collins 2013 amendment has given those opposed to allowing concealed carry permittees on campus the ammunition, so to speak, to defeat his 2015 effort. When every campus administration has so clearly stated opposition to concealed handguns, it will be extraordinarily difficult for Collins to overcome resistance.

And that's especially true as long as Collins and his colleagues maintain a prohibition against permit holders carrying handguns into meetings of the Arkansas General Assembly or any of its committee meetings. If the Legislature is ready to embrace broader application of its concealed carry law, they should probably start with the state Capitol before messing with college campuses.

Greg Harton is editorial page editor of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at [email protected].

Commentary on 02/02/2015

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