Arkansas Gun Law Update: AG opinion 2018-002

Frankly, Arkansas carry laws have been a bit murky these past few years. We have a statutory scheme for concealed carry, and have had since ~1995. It had a couple of bugs, but generally worked until about 2015, when the General Assembly inserted "with a purpose to attempt to unlawfully employ the handgun, knife, or club" into our "Carrying a Weapon" statute. It now reads as follows, and I've underlined the language added in 2015

General Assembly said:

(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 attempt to unlawfully employ the handgun, knife, or club as a weapon against a person. . . .

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-120 (West)

Click to expand...

As one might imagine, there was a sizeable hubbub in 2015, with a lot of people claiming that open carry was now legal, that AR is a constitutional carry state. So our attorney general (I think it was Dustin McDaniel at the time) released an opinion on the matter. In my not-so-humble opinion, that opinion was a hastily-cobbled-together piece of garbage thrown together in a panic to prevent OC and the "inevitable" blood running in the streets. Subsequently, McDaniel was voted out and the new AG (Leslie Rutledge) released a new opinion, reversing McDaniel's. That Opinion was #2015-064. For reasons I've never understood, Opinion 2015-064 was scanned in some manner that makes it too large (as downloaded from the AG's office) to upload here. Nonetheless, AR AG opinions can all be found here. The gist of that opinion was "Well, open carry or concealed carry without a license might not really be il-legal, but if you do it, don't be surprised if the police want to talk to you."

On June 20, 2018, AG Rutledge released Opinion 2018-002, a copy of which is attached. In this opinion, Ms. Rutledge almost begs the General Assembly to clean up our concealed carry statutes. (I don't blame her, either. They're a mess.) She opines that there is no penalty for carrying a concealed handgun without a CHCL in AR. However, she also notes the existence of a possible presumption that carrying a concealed firearm without a license indicates intent to use it unlawfully against a person, in violation of our Carrying a Weapon statute.

MedWheeler said:

Wow. That almost suggests that a person caught driving a car without a driver's license could lead to, in addition to the penalty for driving without a license, a speeding ticket, even if he or she was not speeding, simply because it could be presumed that they intended to exceed the speed limit. After all, he or she was already driving without a license, right?

Click to expand...

No, I don’t agree with that. Carrying a Weapon (the crime) and the act of carrying a concealed handgun without a CHCL overlap (conceptually) in ways the Driving without a License and Speeding do not. I’m on my phone, but if more discussion is required, I’ll get to it when I’m on my computer.

MedWheeler said:

Okay. I didn't see where carrying a weapon is still a crime, despite the legal opinion that there is no penalty for having committed it. I guess that remains the case, hence the need for "cleaning up" the statutes.

Click to expand...

The crime of Carrying a Weapon in violation of ACA 5-73-120 most certainly carries penalties. A conviction for that, however, requires the state to prove an intent to use one of a specific list of weapons (of which a handgun is one) unlawfully against another person. However, according to the AG, if that intent is absent, there is no penalty for being caught carrying a concealed firearm without a CHCL. But then there’s that presumption …

hdwhit said:

Wow.

Pending a legislative fix, it sounds like the best answer for an Arkansas resident is to just go ahead and get a CHL.

Click to expand...

Given that we're a shall-issue state, with pretty easy requirements (1-day class) and a relatively low cost (~$150), I agree.

CapnMac said:

Ok, I haven't been to Arkansas in more than a decade, I don't have a dog in this hunt.

However, if I'm reading that right, does an AR resident need a CHL to carry a knife or club (think EDC or kubotan) if in their vehicle? . . . .

Click to expand...

We have a CHCL here, a Concealed Handgun Carry License. It only covers handguns, so it doesn't have any effect on carrying anything else. We do have a statute on Carrying a Weapon, and pretty much everything falls under that.