Arkansas has now made it official - House Bill 1051 was pre-filed Tuesday by Representative Denny Altes of Fort Smith. HB1051, appropriately titled the Defensive Carry Restoration Act (DCRA), will restore the rights of citizens to freely carry handguns for self-defense.
This legislation (which will not affect the current Concealed Handgun Carry License Law in any way) is designed to allow open carry by the people of Arkansas without requiring an expensive permit. The carrying of a concealed firearm without a permit, however, will still be deemed illegal.
As I wrote about yesterday, the poor of this state will finally have their Second Amendment rights returned to them (upon passage of DCRA). No longer will the people of this state be required to wait weeks and months for the privilege of defending their lives. A right guaranteed to them by the Arkansas state constitution and by the Second Amendment will be restored. The meaning of the “journey” section of current handgun law will not be brought into question. This journey law and the phrase “otherwise readily available for use with a purpose to employ… as a weapon against a person” will not be in danger of being enforced at the whims and discretion of law enforcement. The carry law will be clear and concise for all (at least for openly carried handguns).
Carrying a weapon.
(a) A person commits the offense of carrying a weapon if he or she possesses a handgun, knife, or club on or about his or her person, in a vehicle occupied by him or her, or otherwise readily available for use with a purpose to employ the handgun, knife, or club as a weapon against a person.
~ current Arkansas handgun code
The right to bear arms under DCRA (as previously mentioned) will come without a requirement to “buy” it with a permit. A holstered handgun will not be considered to be concealed in any way, unless the holster itself is covered or hidden.
As used in this section, “openly carry” means that the handgun is not hidden or concealed from view.
“Openly carry” includes without limitation the carrying of a holstered handgun that is not otherwise hidden or concealed from view.
~ DCRA
Arkansas’s gun owners deserve their right to bear arms be restored to them. 43 other states enjoy the right to bear arms; the Defensive Carry Restoration Act will add Arkansas to the very long list.
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Comments
I don't think that open carry is a good idea. Am afraid that more places will put up no gun signs which will limit the places that you can carry concealed in.
Boo, I have to disagree. If a business who is currently allowing concealed carry doesn't want people to open carry in their store, they don't have to spend money on signs; they simple tell these people to leave their stores. Soon the people who open carry will avoid these businesses.
Also, why would you want to do business with someone who won't allow you to exercise your Second Amendment rights?
Seriously? More guns will make us safer?
Yes. Openly carried firearms are an excellent deterent to would-be robbers who just walk in and start demanding money or goods. It is not a gun that robs a store any more than it is a car that drives drunk. Both can be deadly, but up to 10 times more people are killed by drunk drivers, than people who die from gunshot wounds. Look it up. Statistics don't lie.
Remember... only law abiding citizens, NOT criminals... are allowed to even own guns. You can bet that officers who see you in public will thoroughly check you out if you open carry... which is not very appealing to criminals.
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