Clayton Cramer wants to know more about what kind of bill Arkansas actually passed to address carry issues. There were questions even in the comments of Sebastian’s post on the issue of Arkansas going constitutional carry, and it looks like the Attorney General is saying that open carry under the new law isn’t legal. Obviously, there can be differences between the two topics, but many gun owners view them as directly connected. Make sure you know the law wherever you plan to carry a gun – whatever that law may or may not be since there seems to be some debate in Arkansas at the moment.
One thought on “What did Arkansas Actually Pass?”
Comments are closed.
The AG opinion on Act 746 is very narrow. The Act clarified some terminology, including the definition of “journey,” and the AG opinion only deals with that new definition and how that new definition does not allow open carry.
The AG explicitly avoids the separate question of whether the change to the language defining the offense of carrying a weapon allows open carry (see footnote 7 in his opinion).
The offense now has a mens rea element; the person charged must be possessing a weapon “with a purpose to attempt to unlawfully employ” it. The previous language criminalized possessing a weapon “with a purpose to employ” it.
The state senator who asked for clarification of the law only asked about the journey provision, and so the AG didn’t give an opinion on the above changed language.