Republican lawmakers asked Attorney General Leslie Rutledge on Wednesday to officially weigh in on whether a 2013 Arkansas law allows firearms to be carried openly in the state.
Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale; Rep. Nate Bell, I-Mena; and Rep. Tim Lemons, R-Cabot, sent the Republican attorney general a request for an opinion on whether Act 746 of 2013 bars Arkansans from openly carrying a weapon regardless of whether they are on a "journey."
The law allows someone to carry a weapon if they are on a "journey," which Act 746 defined as "travel beyond the county in which the person resides."
Rutledge's predecessor, Democrat Dustin McDaniel, found that Act 746 does not allow for what is termed "open carry."
But Woods said an opinion is still needed to bring clarity to the wording that has meant different things to different people since former Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe signed the law.
"We still have lawmakers saying we have open carry and some saying we don't," Woods said. "We have some county sheriffs saying we have open carry, but you have some police chiefs and municipalities saying we don't have open carry. It's inconsistent."
Woods reads Act 746 as allowing unfettered rights to gun carrying so long as the carrier can legally own a gun.
He said the request for an attorney general's opinion was prompted by several public comments from fellow Republicans that Arkansans can openly carry firearms.
Last week, Rutledge, who said during her campaign that Act 746 does allow open carry, and Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin both publicly sided with Woods.
Days later, Gov. Asa Hutchinson also said that Arkansans should be able to carry, but he also suggested residents check with local prosecutors before doing so.
Regardless of how Rutledge responds to the request, attorney general's opinions are not legally binding.
McDaniel's July 2013 opinion noted that "journey" exemptions have existed since the mid-1800s and were crafted to give travelers protections from the "dangers of the open road," but he said that in this sense, the exemption did not permit people to openly carry a weapon.
"The [journey] term should therefore be narrowly construed, in my opinion, to mean the action of moving from one place to another via some mode of transportation," McDaniel wrote. "This act does not, in other words, permit a person to possess a handgun outside of their vehicle or other mode of transportation while on a journey outside their county of residence."
The law allows Arkansans to carry concealed weapons with the proper permit.
Ronnie Baldwin, executive director of the Arkansas Sheriffs' Association, said Act 746 "definitely" needs clarification.
"Sheriffs of Arkansas are going to enforce the law ... I don't know what else to tell you. I've got 75 sheriffs, and they're kind of looking at the clarification also," Baldwin said. "Does it state anywhere in [the law] about open carry?... No. It does mention conceal and carry."
A.J. Gary, head of the Arkansas chapter of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, did not return a call for comment Wednesday afternoon.
About half of the U.S. states allow open carry while others allow it under certain licensing restrictions.
Lemons said that there is nothing in state law that forbids open carry. He called an open-carry reading of the law "common sense," although he conceded there was no language explicitly permitting it either.
The freshman legislator said the issue wasn't addressed during this past legislative session despite the number of gun advocates in control of both of the General Assembly's chambers.
"I'm a bit surprised," Lemons said. "I was sitting back with bated breath waiting for someone to bring it up. ... Looking back, I wish I had brought it up, but hindsight is 20/20."
Woods said there was much discussion about putting open carry into state law, but that politics prevented it from happening.
"[There wasn't] enough support on the Senate Judiciary Committee for an open-carry bill," Woods said. "We don't have the support there ... with four Democrats and four Republicans."
Metro on 06/11/2015