Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Location Restrictions in Arkansas.’ Guns in Public. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 24 December
Relevant contents
[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]
Other Location Restrictions in Arkansas
No person may carry a handgun into an establishment that sells alcoholic beverages.
A license to carry a concealed handgun does not authorize the licensee to carry a concealed handgun into:
- Any police, sheriff's, State Police or Highway Police station or facility;
- Any buildings of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department, or onto grounds adjacent to such buildings (except "rest areas and weigh stations");
- Any detention facility, prison, or jail;
- Any courthouse or courtroom;
- Any polling place;
- Any meeting place of "the governing body of any governmental entity" or any meeting of the legislature or a committee thereof;
- Any state office;
- Any athletic event not related to firearms;
- Any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, or any portion of an establishment in which beer or light wine is consumed on the premises, excepting certain restaurants;
- Any school, college, community college, or university campus building or event, unless for the purpose of participating in an authorized firearm-related activity (see also Ark. Op. Att'y Gen. No. 2003-372 (2003), 2003 Ark. AG LEXIS 407);
- The passenger terminal of any airport, except that no person shall be prohibited from carrying any legal firearm into the terminal if the firearm is encased for shipment for purposes of checking such firearm as baggage to be lawfully transported on any aircraft;
- Any church or other place of worship;
- Any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law;
- Any place where a parade or demonstration requiring a permit is being held, if the licensee is a participant in the parade or demonstration; or
- Any place at the discretion of the person or entity exercising control over the physical location, by displaying a written notice "clearly readable" at a distance of not less than ten feet, and posted at each entrance to the location, stating that "carrying a handgun is prohibited." A written notice is not required for private homes, and any licensee entering a private home must notify the occupants that he or she is carrying a concealed handgun.
No person other than a law enforcement officer, a security guard employed by the state or any city or county, or military personnel may knowingly carry or possess:
- A loaded firearm in any publicly owned building or facility or on the State Capitol grounds; or
- A firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, in the State Capitol Building or the Justice Building in Little Rock.
This does not apply to persons carrying or possessing firearms:
'[I]n a publicly owned building or facility or on the State Capitol grounds for the purpose of participating in shooting matches or target practice under the auspices of the agency responsible for the building or facility or grounds or if necessary to participate in trade shows, exhibits, or educational courses conducted in the building or facility or on the grounds.'
Arkansas also generally prohibits any person from possessing a handgun in the courtroom of any state court.
Arkansas prohibits a person who is not licensed to carry a concealed weapon from possession of any loaded center-fire weapon, other than a shotgun, and other than in a residence or business of the owner, in certain parts of: Baxter County, Benton County, Carroll County, Conway County, Garland County, Marion County, and platted subdivisions located in unincorporated areas.
A person who has been issued a permit to manufacture or sell alcoholic beverages will be assessed a fine for possession of a weapon on the permitted premises by a person without a possessory or proprietary interest in those premises.