LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An Arkansas lawmaker sponsoring legislation allowing concealed handguns at colleges on Monday backed off proposed age and training restrictions and said he’ll support a more expansive campus guns bill.
Republican Sen. Trent Garner said Monday he’s deferring a proposal that would have allowed anyone with a concealed handgun 25 and older to carry if they undergo up to 16 hours of active shooter training. Garner said he’ll support an alternative bill filed last week that would allow anyone with a license to carry on campus.
“Rather than trying to re-litigate that bill again, let’s start with this clean bill,” Garner told reporters at the state Capitol. Garner said he wasn’t giving up entirely on the previous campus guns measure, and declined to say what he’d do if the latest proposal fails.
Garner’s announcement is the latest wrinkle for a bill that has stalled after the National Rifle Association objected to the age and training limits. Arkansas law currently leaves the decision on whether to allow faculty and staff to carry concealed handguns up to colleges and universities. None have opted to do so since the law was enacted in 2013.
The original version of the bill approved by the House and endorsed by the NRA would have required the schools to allow faculty and staff with concealed handgun licenses to carry. The proposal was expanded to anyone 25 and older with the active shooter training through a deal struck between Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson and lawmakers.
Hutchinson has said the training requirement is needed, but hasn’t said what he’d do if a campus guns bill is sent to him without that provision.
“He remains steadfast in his belief that enhanced training or active shooter training is a good thing for people who could carry on campus,” Hutchinson spokesman J.R. Davis said.
The House sponsor of the campus guns bill said he’s not giving up on finding a compromise, but said he backed Garner’s plan to see how the expanded version fares first.
“We continue to work and I’m very optimistic that we’re going to have an amendment that is the right significant step forward,” Republican Rep. Charlie Collins said.
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