Between the Lines

Between the lines: Senate panel sets sights on Collins' campus carry bill

Judiciary Committee gets turn on Collins’ campus carry bill

The Senate's Judiciary Committee is the most likely barrier to legislation that would allow concealed carry on the state's college and university campuses.

The eight-person panel is next in line to consider the latest iteration of state Rep. Charlie Collins' House Bill 1077.

The bill, amended to satisfy a few more lawmakers, cleared the House of Representatives on Monday and moved on for Senate consideration.

House members voted 66-25 for the bill, which will force public colleges and universities to allow faculty and staff to bring guns to campus. Students would not be allowed to carry concealed weapons. Faculty and staff must have concealed carry licenses, which is the only requirement Collins, R-Fayetteville, really wanted.

To pass the bill, he did concede to another House amendment that will allow the campuses to require active-shooter training for those who wish to bring carry their weapons on campus. The amendment also blocks concealed carry with out-of-state permits and may keep the guns out of on-campus day care.

The change brought some Democrats on board for the vote, although some of them may have just wanted to avoid something less palatable. Indeed, a less palatable bill has been filed. More about that later.

Collins' stand for allowing more guns on campus continues despite what has been unanimous opposition to the idea from the state's public campuses.

Collins started all of this a couple of years ago, when he tried to pass a bill clearing concealed carry by faculty and staff.

He couldn't pass it then in that form and settled for a version that allowed the colleges and universities to opt out. They did. Every one of the public institutions' governing boards opted out not once, but twice since the law has been on the books. (Neither the existing law nor the one passed on Monday affect private institutions.)

This year, with a stronger Republican majority, Collins has tried again to pass a law with no opt-out provision for the public colleges and universities. In his view and the view of those who support him, the Legislature knows best what policy the campuses should follow, not their respective governing boards.

The opposition from the campuses is still strong, but Collins' bill is making progress.

If it reaches the Senate floor, it might find enough support in the Republican majority to pass. But it must first get through committee.

The Senate committee that will consider it is made up of four Republicans and four Democrats.

Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Bentonville, chairs the panel. Notably, he's the lead sponsor on legislation to arm public school personnel. It's not the same kind of law Collins has proposed, but he's obviously comfortable with more guns in public schoolhouses.

The committee's vice chair is Sen. Linda Collins-Smith, R-Pocahontas. She is the lead sponsor on a little-mentioned bill to allow concealed carry in county courthouses by county employees or others whose principal place of employment is within a courthouse.

Among others on the panel are Sens. David Johnson, Joyce Elliott, Linda Chesterfield and David Burnett. All four are Democrats. All are from Little Rock except Burnett, who is from Osceola.

Two more Republicans -- Sens. Jon Woods of Springdale and Terry Rice of Waldron -- round out the panel.

Collins-Smith's courthouse carry bill might be the one to test the committee's will on expanding concealed carry to more public places. Her bill was filed in January and sits high on the committee agenda while Collins' campus carry bill is at the bottom of a long list of bills the busy committee is scheduled to consider.

There's one more related bill to watch, although it presumably would face major challenges getting anywhere.

Offered late last week, House Bill 1528 would significantly expand the places a person who has a concealed carry license may carry a concealed handgun. The bill would amend existing laws that restrict who may carry a concealed handgun in places like liquor stores, K-12 private schools, churches, publicly owned buildings, facilities or on the State Capitol grounds.

If a person has a concealed handgun and a permit to carry it, he or she would be pretty much be free to do so.

There would still be some exceptions, including courthouses, where people with permits could not carry a handgun.

Filed on Monday, the bill was assigned to the House Rules committee, which is significant. The bill did not go to the House Education Committee that delayed Collins' campus carry bill.

Although amended, Collins' bill is the one nearest passage. And the place to fight it now is the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Brenda Blagg is a freelance columnist and longtime journalist in Northwest Arkansas. Email her at [email protected].

Commentary on 03/04/2015

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