In a vote without legal meaning, the Senate voted 24-5 today in support of a resolution “clarifying” that Arkansas is “a constitutional carry state, with no permit required to carry a handgun, either unconcealed or concealed.”

The resolution by Sen. Scott Flippo rests on a Court of Appeals case that a police stop couldn’t be justified by the suspect’s possession of a weapon.  The Arkansas Supreme Court hasn’t definitively addressed the question. The Senate resolution effectively says no permit is necessary to carry a concealed weapon, despite the permitting process for both conventional concealed carry and enhanced permits that allow a broader range of places, including college campuses, where weapons may be carried.

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Five Democrats — Will Bond, Linda Chesterfield, Joyce Elliott, Keith Ingram and Stephanie Flowers — voted no. Six didn’t vote — Eddie Cheatham, Jonathan Dismang, Greg Leding, Missy Irvin, Bruce Maloch and Larry Teague.

The resolution it just a sense of the Senate. It doesn’t affect the statutes with a varying range of limits on gun possession.

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