By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — A House panel on Tuesday rejected a bill that would allow an adult who legally owns a gun to carry it openly without permit.
House Bill 2184 by Rep. Mark Martin, R-Prairie Grove, failed in a voice vote in the House Judiciary Committee.
Meanwhile, the sponsor of a bill before a Senate committee that would prohibit the list of Arkansans with concealed carry permits from being made public said he would work on a compromise proposed by press organizations.
Martin first presented his bill to the panel last week but withdrew it after members questioned whether it would allow children to carry firearms. Martin amended the bill Tuesday to make it apply only to people 21 and older, but members again raised questions.
“Without a permit required … we will have people walking around with guns under their arms that we have no knowledge whether or not they know how to use that gun,” said Rep. Ann Clemmer, R-Benton.
“If they can legally possess that firearm, I would think that they would also be responsible enough to educate themselves on the use of it, as far as carrying it,” Martin said.
Martin said after the vote he planned to request an interim study on his proposal. Arkansas has some of the most prohibitive gun laws in the nation, he said.
“Forty-four states have some form of open carry. Only six do not,” he said.
Across the state Capital, a Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs debated HB 1623, which would exempt the list concealed carry permit holders from the state Freedom of Information Act, but took no action.
The sponsor, Rep. Randy Stewart, D-Kirby, withdrew the measure and said he would develop a compromise with the Arkansas Press Association and hoped to have a new version before the panel Thursday. The compromise, developed by the APA and presented Tuesday by Arkansas Times publisher Alan Leveritt, would remove certain personal information from the list.
Steward filed the bill after the Little Rock weekly newspaper published the names and addresses of concealed carry permit holders in the state on its Web site in February.
During the meeting, Sen. Bobby Glover, D-Carlisle, suggested prohibiting publication of the list of more than 60,000 people, but still allowing the media to review the list.
Sen. Ed Wilkinson, D-Greenwood, said he realized people were upset when their names were published on-line, but said he did not like the idea of exempting the list from the FOI law.
“There are reasons and times when that information needs to be available,” Wilkinson said.
Jason Wilkinson of Cabot, executive vice president of the Arkansas Concealed Carry Association, said the only reason the list would be made public would be to harass those who have concealed permits.
“This list is used for malicious, ideological means,” he testified.
Gov. Mike Beebe said last week that he would prefer the list remain public but has not decided whether he would veto the bill if it is approved by the Legislature.
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Reporter John Lyon contributed to this report.
