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Arkansas does not allow a handgun to be carried on or about the person, openly or concealed, if it is “readily available for use with a purpose to attempt to unlawfully employ [it] as a weapon against a person.”1 The statute does not apply if, at the time of the act of carrying a handgun, the person is:
- In his or her own dwelling, place of business (excluding a “vehicular business” such as a taxi cab or other motor vehicle used for commercial purposes2) or on property in which he or she has a possessory or proprietary interest;
- Assisting a law enforcement officer, correctional officer, or member of the armed forces acting in the course and scope of official duties pursuant to [their] direction or request;
- Carrying a weapon when upon a journey.3 However, a firearm may not be carried through a commercial airport at the security checkpoint or in the person’s checked baggage if it is not a lawfully declared weapon.4
- Hunting game with a handgun under rules and regulations of the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission, or is en route to or from a hunting area for the purpose of hunting game with a handgun.
- In a motor vehicle and the holder of a valid license to carry a concealed weapon.5
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Notes
- Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-120(a). See also Ark. Att’y Gen. Op. No. 2015-064 (Aug. 28, 2015)(interpreting § 5-73-120(a) to allow a person to carry a handgun openly, but not concealed, without a permit so long as he or she does not have a purpose to attempt to unlawfully employ the handgun against a person.
- See Boston v. State, 952 S.W.2d 671 (Ark. 1997).
- See Riggins v. State, 703 S.W.2d 463, 464 (Ark. Ct. App. 1986), “[a] journey has long been defined as ‘where one travels a distance from home sufficient to carry him beyond the circle of his neighbors and general acquaintances and outside of the routine of his daily business…'” (citations omitted
- Id., See also Ark. Att’y Gen. Op. No. 2015-064 (Aug. 28, 2015)(interpreting the journey exception to apply when a person is in the process of traveling by vehicle outside his or her county and only while the handgun remains in a vehicle.
- Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-120(c).