HB 1249 Would Force Guns onto College Campuses by Requiring Colleges to Allow Staff Members to Carry Hidden, Loaded Handguns on Campus
Since 2013, Arkansas Colleges and Universities Have Had the Option to Allow Certain Full-Time Staff Members to Carry Guns on Campus – No School Has Chosen to Do So
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Arkansas chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, today released the statement below in response to the House passage of HB 1249, which would force Arkansas’ public colleges and universities to allow staff members to carry hidden, loaded handguns on campus – including in classrooms, offices and at most campus events. Nationwide, polling shows that 95 percent of college presidents and 94 percent of college faculty oppose guns on campus.
STATEMENT FROM AUSTIN BAILEY, VOLUNTEER CHAPTER LEADER WITH THE ARKANSAS CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:
“Today our representatives voted against the will of Arkansas’ campus police, university presidents and parents throughout our state. Guns on campus are a bad idea. Our law enforcement officers have told us that this legislation will make their jobs harder and more dangerous in crisis situations, and Arkansas professors have told us that this will change the focused learning environment they’re trying to cultivate in their classrooms. Along with other members of the Arkansas chapter of Moms Demand Action, I’ll be calling my legislators today. We have to make sure that our representatives and senators know that they should be our voice – and not the voice of the gun lobby.”
