Senate committee updates 1893 law to make firing at trains a Class A misdemeanor

The Senate Transportation, Technology & Legislative Affairs Committee passed Senate Bill 16, which updates an 1893 Arkansas statute to make knowingly discharging a firearm at a train a Class A misdemeanor, sponsor Senator Boyd said during committee consideration.

Committee members said the change modernizes an old penalty that currently lists fines of $25 to $250. "When this came up, my question was, well, when was this written? And it was written in 1893," Senator Boyd said, noting an inflation calculation that equated a $250 fine in 1893 to roughly $8,766.81 in today’s dollars and explaining the bill would replace the outdated dollar fines with the misdemeanor classification.

The bill would make the offense a Class A misdemeanor, which Senator Boyd summarized as carrying a fine not exceeding $2,500 and imprisonment not exceeding one year. The sponsor said the change came as a recommendation from the Game and Fish subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council’s Second Amendment task force, which reviewed statutes related to firearms.

During discussion, Senator Love expressed concern about the statute’s inclusion of both firearms and "throwing objects" at railroads, warning that the wording could cover less serious conduct such as youths throwing rocks. "That could be a pretty excessive... throwing rocks at a train... and the penalty could be $2,500," Love said, and urged reliance on prosecutorial discretion to avoid harsh outcomes for minor acts. Senator Boyd responded that the bill was intended to update the penalty structure and reflected the task force recommendation.

With no additional questions, the committee moved and passed the bill. Senator Stone moved the motion; Senator Deese seconded. The committee recorded the motion as passed by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.

The committee record shows the measure passed out of committee for further consideration by the Senate.