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Senate Judiciary Committee advances bill to allow petitions restoring firearm rights to some nonviolent felons
Summary
The Senate Judiciary Committee moved House Bill 1013 forward after sponsors said it creates a judicial petition process for certain nonviolent felons to seek restoration of firearm possession rights five years after completing their sentence; the Arkansas State Police testified in opposition and urged a 10‑year look-back. The committee voted to pass the bill by voice vote; an exact tally was not recorded in the transcript.
The Senate Judiciary Committee considered House Bill 1013 on the restoration of firearm possession rights to people convicted of certain nonviolent felonies, and a motion to pass the bill was carried by voice vote during the committee meeting.
Representative Vivian Flowers, the bill’s sponsor in the House, told the committee the measure amends the state’s existing comprehensive sealing process so that a person who has completed disposition—prison or jail, fines, probation or parole and restitution—may petition the court that convicted them to restore Second Amendment rights. “I believe in the power of restorative justice,” Flowers said, urging the committee to consider constituents who have rebuilt their lives after nonviolent offenses.
Flowers and other sponsors said the bill is limited to nonviolent felonies and places petitions under the Comprehensive Sealing Act so judges and prosecutors can review cases.…
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