Arkansas Senate passes expanded guns bill; it allows weapons in bars, churches, colleges, Capitol

Legislation that entered the Senate last month as a guns-on-campus bill left the chamber Thursday as a proposal to allow concealed carry of weapons at colleges, bars, churches and most public buildings, including the state Capitol.

In a series of three votes, senators voted to pull House Bill 1249 out of committee, where it had been stalled for weeks; add an amendment to roll back a range of existing concealed-carry prohibitions; and finally to approve the bill. HB1249 returns to the House for approval of Senate amendments.

The latest amendment to the bill was touted as an agreement between the bill's sponsors, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the National Rifle Association. Still, some Republicans contended that it did not go far enough to appease voters in a strongly pro-gun state.

In its current form, HB1249 would allow anyone with a concealed-carry permit to take up to eight hours of extra active-shooter training before taking weapons onto public college campuses and into many other public facilities, as well as bars, churches and private colleges that do not post notices to otherwise ban weapons.

Read more: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2017/mar/10/senate-passes-expanded-guns-bill-201703/?f=news-politics