State Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado said Thursday that he will wait two years to address what he says is the problem of cities and counties ignoring a 2017 law allowing Arkansans to carry handguns into public buildings.
Garner made the announcement Thursday at a meeting of the Senate Committee on City, County and Local Affairs. That committee had already used a procedural process without a public vote to have Garner's Senate Bill 660 sent to the Senate floor.
But Garner, conceding that the bill had attracted controversy, said that he wanted to be transparent and had the bill referred to interim study.
SB660 would amend the 2017 law, Act 562, to clarify that people with an "enhanced" concealed carry license can carry handguns into buildings owned or operated by state or local governments.
[RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature]
Act 562 established the enhanced license and was intended to apply to local governments, Garner said, but he alleged that some localities were skirting the law.
The law would also allow students to keep handguns in their dorm rooms, a point that has drawn opposition from Democrats.
-- John Moritz