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Senate committee advances bill clarifying law-enforcement officers may carry on campus
Summary
The Senate City, County & Local Affairs Committee passed Senate Bill 197, which clarifies that law-enforcement officers — on or off duty — may carry firearms anywhere in Arkansas not otherwise prohibited by federal law; the sponsor said the bill arose after a Little Rock officer in uniform was told he could not bring his weapon into a University of Arkansas Little Rock law class.
Senator Ballinger introduced Senate Bill 197 and described it as a "fairly simple" cleanup measure aimed at clarifying that a law-enforcement officer, whether on or off duty, may carry a firearm anywhere in the state that is not otherwise barred by federal law.
Ballinger said the bill was prompted by an incident in which "the school felt uncomfortable with him having the firearm" when a Little Rock police officer came straight from duty to class at the University of Arkansas Little Rock…
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