Those who want to protect our Second Amendment rights should take a look at state Rep. Charlie Collins’s HB 1077, which would make college campuses more Second Amendment friendly. From 5News:
House Bill 1077 by Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, would require public universities and colleges to let licensed faculty and staff members carry concealed handguns on campus. Collins said he wants the decision on whether to carry a handgun to be up to the professor, not the institution. The current law allows the governing board of each campus to vote annually whether to opt out and not allow licensed faculty and staff to carry concealed firearms. Then-Gov. Mike Beebe signed Collins’ professor-carry bill into law in 2013 after it was amended to let schools opt out.
As our readers will remember, Collins’ 2013 bill permitted every campus in the state to decide whether it would permit Second Amendment rights to be exercised on campus. The bill relied on the theory that college administrators would occasionally respect our Second Amendment rights. In retrospect, this theory was flawed: every governing higher-education board in the state voted against allowing licensed faculty and staff to be able to concealed carry on campus. Under Collins’s new bill, public universities wouldn’t be able to stop licensed staff and faculty from carrying a concealed weapon. When this bill is run on Thursday, expect the usual anti-gun forces to assemble in opposition at the Capitol. However, I expect the bill will get through the General Assembly easily and be signed into law by Gov. Hutchinson, because it’s a common-sense way to increase campus safety and strengthen the Second Amendment in Arkansas. You can read HB 1077 here.
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