By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — A bill to allow Arkansans to carry guns openly in holsters received a House committee’s strongest rebuke today.

The House Judiciary Committee approved a “do not pass” motion on House Bill 1051 by Rep. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith. The voice vote was not unanimous.

The motion prohibits Altes from bringing the bill back before the committee this session unless two-thirds of the members vote to do so.

Rep. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, who made the motion, said later he supports the 2nd Amendment but had serious reservations Altes’ bill, including that it would allow anyone to carry a holstered handgun in the state but would not require a concealed-carry permit or any other type of permit.

People wanting to carry concealed weapons would still be required to have a concealed-carry permit under the measure.

Altes said after the meeting that he has no plans to bring the bill back to the committee. He said he would draft another bill that would clarify or redefine several parts of the law regarding the carrying of handguns.

The new measure, he said, also would allow for the carrying of a gun in a holster as long as the person has a concealed weapons permit.

During the meeting, Altes read to lawmakers the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and said that the right to bear arms “means to carry.”

He said the state’s poor citizens are being deprived of the right because it costs between $200 and $300 to get a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

“Therefore, the poorest of our state cannot defend themselves,” Altes said.

Testifying for the bill was Anthony Roulette, a lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. He said the state’s current law stipulates that if a person is caught carrying a gun while on “a journey,” state law allows them to use their journey as a defense to prosecution.

Roulette also said state law does not define the word journey.

“The current law is so vague,” Roulette said. “Going on a journey is so vague that nobody understands it. That’s an infringement if you don’t understand how you can travel legally with your firearm, that the constitution says you have a legal right to keep and bear.”

Several committee members said the bill raised concerns about public safety.

Rep. John Walker, D-Little Rock, asked Altes what would happen to someone recently released on probation who arrived home and discoverd that a relative in the house where they planned to live had started carrying a holstered gun.

Walker, an attorney, said that the former inmate would probably be arrested for violating his probation.

“Would this be creating a situation where more people are being sent to prison for being around a weapon?” Walker asked.

Altes replied that as long as the former inmate was not in possession of the weapon, it was okay.

State Police Lt. Cora Gentry and North Little Rock testified against the bill.