The so-called compromise amendment that will allow anyone 25 or older with a training certificate carry a concealed weapon on public college campuses was approved in a Senate committee this afternoon.
That indicates plans to move the legislation swiftly through the Senate and back to the House for final passage, as agreed by all the legislators who count and the governor.
Colleges remain wholly opposed to the bill, which widens to all of adult Arkansas over 25 the people who can take guns on campus, not just staff as Rep. Charlie Collins’ original bill intended. The lame excuse for the vast expansion is that the additional training requirement — “up to” 16 hours of a State Police-devised course — will be a hurdle most concealed carry permit holders won’t seek to jump and thus the amendment might decrease the number carrying on campus.
Rep. Greg Leding, a staunch opponent of the legislation, has noted that the average community college student is 28.