(AP) – The Arkansas House has voted to require state colleges and universities to allow concealed handguns on campus, despite objections from administrators and police that the move won't make schools safer.
The House on Thursday approved House Bill 1249 by a 71-22 vote. The proposal would require the schools to allow faculty and staff to carry concealed handguns on campus. All local State Representatives voted in favor of the measure. A 2013 law left the decision up to the schools, but no campus has opted to allow the weapons since it was enacted.
The lawmaker behind the measure has said it would help deter potential mass shooters and supplement existing campus security. But administrators of the state's largest university systems have opposed the bill and have said the decision should remain with the schools.
In a recent statement issued to KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News,
ASU System President Dr. Chuck Welch says the University is in agreement with Governor Asa Hutchinson's comments saying the decisions on the issue should be left up to the schools. Campus constituents meet annually and continue to recommend to the Board of Trustees that faculty and staff shouldn't be allowed to carry firearms on campus.
According to Dr. Welch, the ASU Board of Trustees opts out every year and every other higher education institution across the state has followed suit. He notes there have been two incidents on the Jonesboro campus, in the past two years, that ended peacefully due to the training and restraint of trained law enforcement officers. He says the ASU system prefers only licensed law enforcement and all similar decisions should be made at the local level.
House Bill 1249 now heads to the Senate.
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