A Conway lawyer barred from taking his gun into Little Rock City Hall said he is taking his case to the Arkansas Supreme Court after a lower-court ruling this week describing as vague the new law intended to allow specially licensed carriers to take weapons into spaces where they had formerly been forbidden, including municipal properties.
Chris Corbitt, a concealed-carry license-holder, sued the city along with Mayor Frank Scott Jr. and City Manager Bruce Moore — the city’s policymakers — last month, saying they had violated his constitutional rights by not recognizing the law, Act 1024 of 2021, and barring him from taking his gun into City Hall.
Arkansas has two levels of concealed-carry licenses, basic and enhanced, based on training and live-fire testing. The new law is intended to allow enhanced concealed-carry permit-holders to take their guns into airports, the state Capitol, General Assembly meetings, state offices and public universities where the weapons had once been prohibited.
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chip Welch declined Monday to force the city into immediate compliance, saying the law is not clearly written and that he would need to hold a trial to hear more evidence and arguments to decide whether Corbitt’s rights had been violated.
“The court finds multiple ambiguities exist between Act 1024, and the multitude of other sections it seeks to amend or repeal. After torturous examination (literally trying to diagram the various statutes impacted) the purpose … and the methods … are unclear as is the precise definition of ‘Enhanced Conceal Carry License,'” Welch wrote in his four-page decision.
Welch’s ruling left Corbitt with two options: proceed to trial before Welch, or appeal to the higher court. Corbitt’s lawyer, law professor Robert Steinbuch, said Tuesday that they would appeal.
More at https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/sep/15/conway-lawyer-barred-from-carrying-gun-into/