Can someone with an enhanced concealed-carry license bring a handgun into a city park or state office building in Arkansas?

Plain-English summary

Senator Trent Garner asked whether Arkansas's enhanced concealed-carry exception for a publicly owned building or facility applied to city and county property and to state-agency property. The Attorney General answered yes to both in a specific sense: an enhanced license holder does not incur criminal liability under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-122 merely for carrying in a location because it is publicly owned. Other location restrictions still matter.

For city and county property, the Attorney General said the local government may post an entryway “no weapons” sign under § 5-73-306(18). Those signs are effective against both traditional and enhanced license holders. The opinion distinguishes this from state offices and other locations in the exempt categories listed in § 5-73-322(h)(2). At those locations, an entryway sign under § 5-73-306(18) does not prohibit enhanced holders, although it still applies to traditional holders. A privately owned or operated location under § 5-73-306(19), or a firearms-sensitive area under (20), may supply a separate prohibition.

A violation of a § 5-73-306 location restriction does not itself carry a criminal penalty under that section, but it may lead to license suspension or revocation. Footnote 7 adds that a person who enters or stays on another's property against the owner or occupant's stated desire may be guilty of criminal trespass. The opinion did not decide a specific trespass case. It also said the public-building exception imposes no compliance steps on property owners and no requirement that posted signs specify their effect on enhanced holders.

Currency note

This opinion interpreted the Arkansas statutes as they stood in 2019. Verify current carry law and the classification of a particular location before relying on it.

Common questions

Does an enhanced license remove the public-building offense? Yes, for the § 5-73-122 offense based on the place being a publicly owned building or facility. The opinion says other restrictions on specific places under § 5-73-306 must still be considered.

Can a city or county post a sign that binds an enhanced holder? Yes. The Attorney General said city and county property, as such, is not one of the separately exempt location categories, so § 5-73-306(18) signs can prohibit concealed carry there for both traditional and enhanced holders.

Does the same sign bind an enhanced holder at a state office? No, under this opinion's analysis of § 5-73-322(h)(2). State offices are among the categories exempted for enhanced holders, and § 5-73-306(18) signs do not override that exemption. The opinion says signs remain effective for traditional holders and discusses possible separate restrictions for private locations and firearms-sensitive areas.

Does violating a posted-location rule carry a criminal penalty? The opinion says § 5-73-306 itself does not impose criminal penalties on a license holder, but a violation may affect the license. It separately notes in footnote 7 that entering or remaining against an owner or occupant's stated desire may amount to criminal trespass; whether that occurred requires facts.

Must the owner or government take steps to activate the public-building exception? No. The Attorney General said enhanced holders are simply exempt from prosecution under § 5-73-122 on that basis. The cited statutes also do not require a posted sign to spell out whether it applies to enhanced holders.

Background and statutory framework

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-122 creates the public-building firearm offense. Section 5-73-322(h)(1) exempts enhanced holders from that offense, while § 5-73-322(h)(2) exempts them from specified § 5-73-306 location restrictions unless a private-location or firearms-sensitive-area prohibition applies. Section 5-73-306(18) provides entryway signage authority. The opinion distinguishes city and county property from state offices when applying that signage provision.

Citations

• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-122
• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-306(18)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-306(19)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-306(20)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-322(h)(1)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-322(h)(2)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-39-203 (footnote 7)

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

STATE OF ARKAN SAS
ATTORN EY GENERAL
LES LIE RU TLEDGE

Opinion No. 2018-079

May 10, 2019

The Honorable Trent Garner
State Senator
P.O. Box 11135
El Dorado, AR 71730

Dear Senator Garner:

This is in response to your request for an opinion concerning the applicability of Act 562 of 2017' s "publicly owned building or facility exception" exception for enhanced concealed handgun carry license holders . In this regard, you have asked the following questions:

1) Does the publicly owned building or facility exception allowed under Act 562 of 2017 for enhanced carry license holders apply to a building, park, or location owned by a city, municipality, or county that is paid for with public funds? In what timeframe must they comply with the law?

2) Does the publicly owned building or facility exception allowed under Act 562 of 2017 for enhanced carry license holders apply to a building, park, or location owned by a state agency, such as the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, that is paid for with public funds? In what timeframe must they comply with the law?

RESPONSE

The answer to your first question is "Yes," insofar as Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73- 322(h)( 1) (Supp. 2017) allows those with an enhanced license to carry a concealed handgun into locations or property owned by cities, counties, or municipalities without incurring criminal liability under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-122 (Supp. 2017). However, cities and counties may still prohibit the concealed carrying of

323 CENTER STREET, SU ITE 200 · LI TTLE ROCK. ARKANSA S 7220 1 TELEP HONE (50 1) 682-200 7 · FAX (50 1) 682-8084 ARKAN SASAG.GOV

The Honorable Trent Garner
State Senator
Opinion No. 2018-079
Page 2

handguns by posting an entryway sign as provided for in Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73- 306(18) (Supp. 2017). In regard to the last part of your question, Act 562 does not impose any particular requirements on these entities.

The answer to your second question, is "Yes," insofar as section 5-73-322(h)(l) allows those with an enhanced license to carry a concealed handgun into locations or property owned by the state without incurring criminal liability under section 5- 73-122. In regard to the last part of your question, Act 562 does not impose any particular requirements on these entities.

DISCUSSION

To answer your questions, some background is necessary. As relevant for purposes of this opinion, section 5-73-122 makes it unlawful, with certain exceptions, for individuals to "knowingly carry or possess a loaded firearm ... in any publicly owned building or facility or on the State Capitol grounds." Section 5-73-122 does not define "publicly owned building," but the term is defined elsewhere in Arkansas law as "those buildings which are owned or operated by a municipal, county, or state government." 1 Section 5-73-l 22(a)( 4) defines "facility" as "a municipally owned or maintained park, football field, baseball field, soccer field, or another similar municipally owned or maintained recreational structure or property." Carrying a firearm in violation of section 5- 73-122 is a Class C misdemeanor. 2 This prohibition applies even ifthe person is a traditional concealed-carry license holder. 3

Section 5-73-122 lists several exceptions to this general prohibition. As relevant here, section 5-73-122(a)(3)(D) provides that the general prohibition against carrying in a "publicly owned building or facility" does not apply "[i]f the person has completed the required training and received a concealed-carry endorsement under section 5-73-322(g) and the place is not" one of several specific locations listed therein. 4 Section 5-73-322(g) establishes Arkansas's enhanced concealed-

1
Ark. Code Ann. § 20-24-l l 8(b) (Rep I. 2014 ).
2
See Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-122( c) (Supp. 2017).
3
As used in this opinion, "traditional" license holders are those concealed-carry license holders who do not have an "enhanced" license, as discussed below. 4 Those locations are:

The Honorable Trent Garner
State Senator
Opinion No. 2018-079
Page 3

carry license regime. Thus, enhanced license holders are generally exempt from section 5-73-122's prohibition against carrying a firearm in a "publicly owned building or facility," subject to the restrictions in that section. I understand your question to refer to this provision as the "publicly owned building or facility exception."

However, the carrying of a concealed handgun is further restricted by section 5- 73-306. Section 5-73-306 provides for several categories of locations where carrying a concealed handgun, even with a concealed-carry license, is prohibited. This list includes many locations that may fall within the broad definition of "public building or facility." These locations 5 are:

( 1) Any police station, sheriffs station, or Department of Arkansas State Police station;

(2) An Arkansas Highway Police Division of the Arkansas Department of Transportation facility;

(3)(A) A building of the Arkansas Department of Transportation or onto grounds adjacent to a building of the Arkansas Department of Transportation [;]

(i) A courtroom or the location of an administrative hearing conducted by a state agency, except as permitted by§§ 5-73-306(5) or 5-73-306(6);

(ii) A public school kinderga11en through grade twelve (K-12), a public prekinderga11en, or a public daycare facility, except as permitted under subdivision (a)(3)(C) of this section;

(iii) A facility operated by the Department of Correction or the Depa11ment of Community Correction; or

(iv) A posted firearm-sensitive area, as approved by the Department of Arkansas State Police under§ 5-73-325, located at:
(a) The Arkansas State Hospital;
(b) The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; or (c) A collegiate athletic event[.]
5
For the ease of the reader, many of the exceptions and caveats to the various items listed are omitted.

The Honorable Trent Garner
State Senator
Opinion No. 2018-079
Page 4

(4) Any part of a detention facility, prison, or jail, including without limitation a parking lot owned, maintained, or otherwise controlled by the Department of Correction or Department of Community Correction;

(5) Any courthouse, courthouse annex, or other building owned, leased, or regularly used by a county for conducting court proceedings or housing a county office[;]

(6)(A) Any courtroom[;]

(7) Any meeting place of the governing body of any governmental entity;

(8) Any meeting of the General Assembly or a committee of the General Assembly;

(9) Any state office;

( 10) Any athletic event not related to firearms[;]

( 11 )(A) A portion of an establishment, except a restaurant as defined in § 3- 5-1202, licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises[;]

(12)(A) A portion of an establishment, except a restaurant as defined in § 3- 5-1202, where beer or light wine is consumed on the premises[;]

(13)(A) A school, college, community college, or university campus building or event[;]

( 14) Inside the passenger terminal of any airport[;]

(15)(A) Any church or other place of worship[;]

(16) Any place where the carrying of a firearm is prohibited by federal law;

( 17) Any place where a parade or demonstration requiring a permit is being held, and the licensee is a participant in the parade or demonstration;

( l 8)(A)(i) Any place at the discretion of the person or entity exercising control over the physical location of the place by placing at each entrance to

The Honorable Trent Garner
State Senator
Opinion No. 2018-079
Page 5

the place a written notice clearly readable at a distance of not less than ten feet (1 O') that "carrying a handgun is prohibited"[;]

(l 9)(A)(i) A place owned or operated by a private entity that prohibits the carrying of a concealed handgun that posts a written notice as described under subdivision (18)(A) of this section[;]

(20) A posted firearm-sensitive area, as approved by the Department of Arkansas State Police under § 5-73-325, located at:
(A) The Arkansas State Hospital;
(B) The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; or (C) A collegiate athletic event.

An important distinction between sections 5-73-122 and 5-73-306 is that section 5-73-306 does not impose criminal penalties on license holders who carry a concealed handgun into one of the prohibited places listed. However, carrying a concealed handgun in a prohibited place under section 5-73-306 may still lead to suspension or revocation of the license. 6

As noted above, section 5-73-322(g) establishes the enhanced concealed-carry license regime. Section 5-73-322(h)( 1) provides that an enhanced license holder "is exempted from the prohibitions and restrictions on[] [c]arrying a firearm in a publicly owned building or facility under [section] 5-73-122." In other words, it is not a crime for an enhanced license holder to carry in a location simply because it is a "publicly owned building or facility" under section 5-73-122.

Enhanced license holders are further exempted from some of the prohibitions of section 5-73-306. Section 5-73-322(h)(2) exempts enhanced license holders from the prohibition on "[ c]arrying a concealed handgun in a prohibited place under section 5-73-306(7)-(12), (14 ), (15), and (17), unless otherwise prohibited under
§§ 5-73-306(19) or 5-73-306(20)." In other words, an enhanced license holder is not prohibited from carrying in the locations itemized in section 5-73-306(7)-(12), ( 14 ), ( 15), and ( 17) unless those locations are independently prohibited by section 5-73-306(19)-which allows private locations to prohibit concealed weapons by posting entryway signs or providing verbal or written notice to a license holder- or are a firearms-sensitive area under section 5-73-306(20).

6
See Ark. Admin. Code 130.00.8-7.0 ("Failure to comply with the provisions of ACA §§ 5-73- 301 et seq. or [State Police] Rules is a ground(s) for suspension and/or revocation of an Arkansas concealed handgun carry license.").

The Honorable Trent Garner
State Senator
Opinion No. 2018-079
Page 6

Importantly, the exception clause of section 5-73-322(h)(2) omits section 5-73- 306(18)-which allows "the person or entity exercising control over" "[a]ny place" to post "no weapons" signs-as an option for prohibiting enhanced license holders from carrying in the otherwise exempted locations of section 5-73- 322(h)(2). The effect of this provision is that the owners or operators of locations exempted under section 5-73-322(h)(2)-those in section 5-73-306(7)-( 12), (14 ), (15), and (17)-may only cause that location to be a prohibited location for 7 purposes of section 5-73-306 if that location is privately owned or operated.

For illustrative purposes, one category of exempted locations under section 5-73- 322(h)(2) is "state offices" under section 5-73-306(9), which are all publicly owned or operated by the state government. Section 5-73-322(h)(l) exempts enhanced license holders from criminal penalties for carrying in a "state office." Section 5-73-322(h)(2) exempts enhanced license holders from the prohibition of section 5-73-306(9), unless that location would otherwise be prohibited under section 5-73-306(19)-unlikely, as that requires the location to be "owned or operated by a private entity," as opposed to the state-or a firearms-sensitive area under section 5-73-306(20), which is unlikely to encompass any state offices. Thus, an enhanced license holder is not prohibited from carrying in a state office, and state offices do not have the option to use entryway signs to prohibit enhanced license holders from carrying weapons pursuant to section 5-73-306(19).

Your questions are ones of statutory interpretation. The first rule in considering the meaning and effect of Act 562 of 2017 is to construe its text just as it reads, 8 giving the words their ordinary and accepted meaning in common language. The courts will construe the statute so that no word is left void, superfluous, or insignificant; and meaning and effect are given to every word in the statute if possible. 9 When the language of the statute is plain and unambiguous, there is no 0 need to resort to the rules of statutory interpretation. '

7
Additionally, if a person enters or stays on another's prope1ty against the owner's or occupant's stated desire that he or she not enter or that he or she leaves, that person may be guilty of criminal trespass. See Ark. Code Ann. § 5-39-203 (Rep I. 2016). 8 See, e.g., MacSteel Div. of Quanex v. Ark. Okla. Gas Corp., 363 Ark. 22, 210 S.W.3d 878 (2005). 9 Id. at 30, 210 S.W.3d at 882-83.
10
Id.

The Honorable Trent Garner
State Senator
Opinion No. 2018-079
Page 7

Question 1: Does the publicly owned building or facility exception allowed under Act 562 of 2017 for enhanced carry license holders apply to a building, park, or location owned by a city, municipality, or county that is paid for with public funds?

The answer to your question, as worded, is "Yes," insofar as section 5-73- 322(h)(l) allows those with an enhanced license to carry a concealed handgun into locations or property owned by cities, counties, or municipalities without incurring criminal liability under section 5-73-122.

A more complete answer, however, takes into account the prohibitions against concealed carry contained in section 5-73-306. Property owned by a city, county, or municipality, as such, is not one of the categories of prohibited places of section 5-73-306. As a result, these entities may make use of section 5-73-306(18)- which allows "the person or entity exercising control over" "[a]ny place" to post signs stating that "carrying weapons is prohibited." While state law provides that these entities may not, by ordinance or regulation, prohibit the concealed carrying of firearms beyond that provided for by state law, 11 the broad text of section 5-73- 306(18) plainly applies to these entities and allows them to post entryway signs prohibiting the concealed carry of firearms. These signs are effective as to both traditional and enhanced license holders. Although a license holder is not subject to criminal liability for violation of section 5-73-306(18), as noted above, the license is subject to potential suspension or revocation.

Question 2: Does the publicly owned building or facility exception allowed under Act 562 of 2017 for enhanced carry license holders apply to a building, park, or location owned by a state agency, such as the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, that is paid for with public funds?

The answer to your question, as worded, is "Yes," insofar as section 5-73- 322(h)(l) allows those with an enhanced license to carry a concealed handgun into locations or property owned by the state without incurring criminal liability under section 5-73-122.

11
Ark. Code Ann. § 14-54-1411 (b )( 1)(A) (Supp. 2017) ("A local unit of government shall not enact any ordinance or regulation pertaining to, or regulate in any other manner, the ownership, transfer, transportation, carrying, or possession of firearms, ammunition for firearms, or components of firearms, except as otherwise provided in state or federal law.").

The Honorable Trent Garner
State Senator
Opinion No. 2018-079
Page 8

A more complete answer to your question, taking into account the prohibitions of section 5- 73-306, depends on the nature of the particular state-owned location. If that location falls within one of the categories listed in section 5- 73-306(7)-( 12), (14 ), ( 15), and (17), such as a state office, then the answer is "Yes." Enhanced license holders may carry in those locations, and those locations cannot prohibit concealed carrying by enhanced license holders by posting entryway signs under section 5- 73-306( 18). However, any such signs remain effective as to traditional concealed carry holders.

The second part of both your questions ask "in what timeframe must they comply with the law?" I understand "they" to mean those state entities, cities, counties, and municipalities who own or maintain buildings or facilities, in which the carrying of firearms is prohibited by section 5-73-122 if the person is not, as relevant to this opinion, an enhanced license holder. The answer depends on the nature of your question. The aforementioned entities need not do anything with regard to the "publicly owned building or facility exception;" enhanced license holders are simply not subject to prosecution under that provision. If your question is intended to ask whether, when posting entryway "no weapons" signs, entities must specify whether enhanced license holders are prohibited from carrying a concealed handgun, the answer is "No. " The relevant statutes contain no such requirement.

Sincerely,

~/~
LESLIE RUTLE:aE
Attorney General
6