Thursday the University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet and vote on whether to allow permitted faculty and staff to carry concealed handguns on its campuses throughout the state.
The Arkansas State University Board is also expected to vote on the matter Thursday.
The state legislature recently passed a law that gives colleges the choice, though all schools that have voted so far have opted out of allowing concealed weapons on campus.
Another Arkansas college has opted out of a new state law that allows faculty and staff members to carry concealed guns on campus.
East Arkansas Community College's board of trustees voted last week to opt out of the law, passed this year by the Legislature. The Times-Herald reports that the board decided that hiring extra armed security officers would be a better option for the two-year school in Forrest City.
A new bill that seeks to prevent the federal government from regulating firearms in Arkansas is scheduled to go before a state House committee Tuesday morning. But many think it’s clearly unconstitutional.
State Representative Bob Ballinger, a Republican from Hindsville, is the sponsor of the bill.
“We are not going to allow for any more federal regulations of firearms in Arkansas," Ballinger told a crowd gathered for a Second Amendment rally in front of the Arkansas Capitol February 8.
Governor Mike Beebe is neither vetoing, nor signing a law to make a list of concealed handgun permit holders a secret.
Instead, he’ll let the law take effect without his signature.
Matt DeCample, the Governor’s spokesman said Thursday that the Governor is against the law, because he says there hasn’t been any instances of permit holders being victimized due to their information being out there.
