STATE
ARKANSAS GUN LAWS
Arkansas has some of the weakest gun laws in the country and the ninth-highest gun death rate. State lawmakers must act to close loopholes and enact lifesaving reforms.
Scorecard Grade
In recent years, Arkansas has enacted few meaningful gun safety laws. Instead it began allowing concealed carry at universities and polling places. In 2024, Arkansas had the seventh highest gun death rate among the states. In an average year, 669 people die from gun violence in the state. That means that someone dies from gun violence every 13 hours. Fifty-seven percent of these deaths are gun suicides, and 40% are gun homicides. In Arkansas, the rate of gun deaths increased 22% from 2015 to 2024, compared to a 15% increase nationwide.
EXPLORE ARKANSAS’S GUN LAWS
OWNER RESPONSIBILITIES
CHILD & CONSUMER SAFETY
OTHER LAWS & POLICIES
What Arkansas Does Well
- Partial mental health record reporting
What Arkansas Is Missing
- Universal background checks
- Gun owner licensing
- Extreme risk protection orders
- Domestic violence gun laws
- Assault weapon restrictions
- Large capacity magazine ban
- Waiting periods
- Strong concealed carry law
- Open carry regulations
- Child access prevention laws
- Community violence intervention funding
SPOTLIGHT
GUN VIOLENCE STATISTICS
Explore facts, figures, and original analysis compiled by our experts. To end our gun violence crisis, we need to better understand where, how, and why violence occurs.
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MAKE A GIFT
We’re building a movement of Americans committed to gun safety. Democrats and Republicans, gun owners and non–gun owners alike—we stand united to reject the gun lobby and pass lifesaving gun safety laws.