Bill filed to have state universities allow staff guns

Public universities would be required to allow staff members to carry concealed handguns under a bill filed Monday.

Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, who is sponsoring House Bill 1249, said the measure is aimed at protecting students by dissuading mass shooters at their schools.

"If somebody there might be able to pull out a weapon and stop them before they complete their mission, they're less likely to choose that as a place" to attack, he said.

In 2013, Collins sponsored a bill, which he has said he was forced to amend, that gave universities a choice whether to allow staff member to carry concealed handguns.

All of the state's public universities opted out. Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, who opposes Collins' new bill, said that choice made sense.

"I don't think the idea that an art history teacher might have a gun is going to prevent a madman," he said.

Collins and Leding, along with six other lawmakers, attended a Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce legislative forum on Friday and discussed the measure.

More than 125 people attended. More than two-thirds of the crowd raised their hands when asked if they would oppose Collins' proposal. About a quarter of the audience responded with a show of hands in support of the measure.

"I do find it surprising that a representative or any elected official would do something so in stark opposition to the will of his or her constituents," Leding said Friday.

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But Collins said the majority of the state -- if not university students -- approve of the content of his bill, citing past polls on the subject.

He said he appreciated students coming out to voice their concerns.

"That's awesome," he said. "I love the free-speech dynamic."

But he said he's been pushing for campus carry since 2010 while beating his political opponents in legislative races.

"That's telling me the things I'm doing in general to try to make Arkansas a good jobs magnet, to try to keep our loved ones safe in aggregate is meeting the needs of my constituency -- the folks I represent," he said.

Collins said he has two sons who attend the University of Arkansas.

In a statement, University of Arkansas Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz said the current law, which allows local control, doesn't need to be changed.

"Our own law enforcement officers do not believe that the campus would be safer if guns are permitted," he said. "We have serious concerns about increasing the number of armed individuals posing a significant threat, particularly in an active situation when officers must make immediate determinations about who is a threat."

Steinmetz said the bill, if it becomes law, could harm the recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff.

J.R. Davis, a spokesman for Gov. Asa Hutchinson, said the "governor has said that his inclination is that the status quo seems to be working and that it should be up to the university to set that policy, but he hasn't had a chance to review the bill itself."

While he doesn't expect support from colleges and universities, Collins said he made several concessions to them.

For example, if a college or university put on an event with at least one security officer for every 100 people, then the school could prohibit concealed carry with prior notice.

The bill also has exceptions that include hospitals and medical schools and buildings within half a mile of those entities as well as university buildings within a half mile of a "federally owned and operated presidential library."

Collins said he expects his bill to be considered by the House Judiciary Committee next week.

A Section on 01/24/2017

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