In a poorly-timed turn of events, the Arkansas House adopted House Resolution 1041, or ‘The Right To Keep and Bear Arms Day’ on March 27, which happens to be the same day as the school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, that claimed the lives of seven people including three children.
One Twitter user poked fun at the resolution, saying “do we really need a ‘day’ for this sh*t? Isn’t that everyday in Arkansas?” She’s not wrong, too, as Arkansas is one of the most gun-friendly states in the US, if the house resolution “to recognize the inalienable right to life, property, and defense, and the right to keep and bear arms in Arkansas” is any indication.
The state has some of the weakest gun laws in the country. According to the gun law rankings of Every Town for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the US, Arkansas is number 49 in the country for gun laws strength, and the state has the eighth-highest rate of gun-related deaths.
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They have none of the foundational gun laws in place, such as requiring a background check and/or a purchase permit prior to purchase, requiring secure storage or child access prevention, or having a concealed carry permit — the latter was repealed in 2021.
On March 20, the state also introduced an amendment to a law on possession of a handgun on a journey. Senate Bill 450 removes the part of the clause that limits the permissible possession of a handgun to “a journey beyond the county in which the person lives,” to just vaguely indicate that the person is allowed to carry a handgun when they are on a journey.
The law, thankfully, does not apply to minors 18 years old and below. But as Judson Scalon emphasizes on Twitter, this might not completely prevent students age 18 and older from bringing guns to school if they are “on a journey.”
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