State Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, is absolutely convinced he is right when it comes to allowing faculty and staff of Arkansas' institutions of higher learning to carry concealed weapons on campus.
He made the argument again last week to fellow lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee, then to the full House of Representatives. Both approved his House Bill 1249.
Never mind that the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and all the other campuses in the UA System don't support the practice. Neither do the rest of the institutions of higher learning in Arkansas, whose governing boards have repeatedly opted out of allowing guns on campus for anyone other than law enforcement.
Never mind that the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce is also opposed, fearful that the practice will impact the ability of the UA's flagship campus to draw students here.
Never mind that the House hearing room was packed with vocal opponents of the measure or that opposition here and elsewhere in Arkansas continues unabated.
Collins is like a dog with a bone when it comes to this issue. He's been pushing it since his Fayetteville district first sent him to the Legislature. He had previously gotten a change in the law to allow campus carry, but that bill was amended to allow campuses to opt out.
Sure enough, every campus opted out. So Collins is trying again, this time with no option for the institutions to exercise local control -- and with the likelihood of support for an ever more conservative Legislature.
Collins maintains his legislation will present some sort of mental deterrent to those who might commit the kind of mass shootings that have become all too common.
Potential shooters, he suggests, will take into account that a professor or staff member might have a gun and the shooter may therefore choose not to carry out his plan on an Arkansas campus.
He's trusting those who can get concealed carry permits to be responsible, dismissing the concerns of others about unintended consequences of having loaded guns on campus.
A big majority of Collins' House colleagues clearly agreed with him. The House vote on Thursday was 71 to 22.
Rest assured, had Collins not had the votes lined up, he wouldn't have run the bill so early in this still-new session.
For opponents of the bill, that huge House vote is not a good sign.
Both the House and Senate now boast significant Republican majorities, presumably including many lawmakers supportive of this and other gun-related legislation.
The state's Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, has called the system that is in place now, allowing individual institutions to opt out of the policy, "workable." But he hasn't said what he thinks of Collins' bill to require all campuses to allow concealed carry.
Hutchinson likely has other issues of greater import to him and might not use his political capital on this one, so anyone counting on a gubernatorial veto might want to think instead about trying to stop the bill in the Senate.
Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, is the Senate sponsor. The former aide to U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton is among the new Republican lawmakers who helped bump up the party's majorities in the Arkansas Legislature.
So far, he's the only senator signed on to sponsor the measure. But the pitch is only beginning there,
Expect Collins and Garner to bring the bill up soon in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it has been assigned.
In the meantime, for those who want to hear the arguments for and against it, here's the link to the House of Representatives' video library: http://www.arkansashouse.org/video-library. Both the Tuesday Judiciary Committee meeting and the Thursday House session that included debate on HB1249 are archived there.
The bill itself can be accessed on the Legislature's site, http://www.arkleg.state.ar.us, where progress on any legislation may be tracked.
So you know, state Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, spoke up for the other side in Thursday's House debate.
"The people I represent back in Fayetteville have just made it absolutely clear that they oppose this," he told his colleagues.
"A majority of the students, parents of those students, the faculty, the staff, the board of trustees, the athletic department, the University of Arkansas police department, members of the Fayetteville Police Department, have all made it clear they oppose this bill. They don't think it will make campus safer."
This debate, of course, is not just about Fayetteville.
Administrators from most other affected institutions have also expressed continuing opposition.
An exception -- perhaps the exception -- is the president of Springdale's Northwest Technical Institute, who gave the bill his backing last week.
Collins wrote this year's version of campus-carry legislation to include that one vo-tech institute among campuses where concealed carry by faculty and staff would be allowed.
Commentary on 02/05/2017