Arkansas Gun Laws
Gun Laws Overview
RIFLES & SHOTGUNS | HANDGUNS | |
---|---|---|
Licensing of Owners | No | No |
Permit to Carry | No | No* |
Permit to Purchase | No | No |
Registration of Firearms | No | No |
* This rests on court rulings. State law prohibits carrying a handgun with the "purpose to attempt to unlawfully employ the handgun ... as a weapon against a person;" Ark. Code 5-73-120(a). Courts have interpreted this as requiring the possessor of a handgun to have an unlawful intent to employ it as a weapon against a person in order to make that possession a criminal act. See the section on "Carrying," below. The list and map below are included as a tool to assist you in validating your information. We have made every effort to report the information correctly, however reciprocity and recognition agreements are subject to frequent change. The information is not intended as legal advice or a restatement of law and does not include: restrictions that may be placed on non-resident permits, individuals under the age of 21, qualifying permit classes, and/or any other factor which may limit reciprocity and/or recognition. For any particular situation, a licensed local attorney must be consulted for an accurate interpretation. YOU MUST ABIDE WITH ALL LAWS: STATE, FEDERAL AND LOCAL. |
STATE STATUS | |
---|---|
Castle Doctrine | Enacted |
No-Net Loss | Enacted |
Right to Carry Confidentiality | Provisions Enacted |
Right to Carry in Restaurants | Partial Ban |
Right To Carry Laws | No Permit Required |
Right To Carry Reciprocity and Recognition | Outright Recognition |
Right to Keep & Bear Arms State Constitutional Provisions | With Provisions |
RECIPROCITY NOTES: Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan and South Carolina recognize ONLY an Arkansas RESIDENT Permit. Arkansas State Police: http://www.asp.state.ar.us/divisions/rs/rs_chl_law.html#rec |
Laws on Purchase, Possession and Carrying of Firearms
Purchase and Possession
No state permit is required for the purchase or possession of a rifle, shotgun, or handgun. MORE |
Carrying
Ark. Code § 5-73-120(a) makes it a crime to carry a handgun, knife, or club on or about the person or in a vehicle or “otherwise readily available for use with a purpose to attempt to unlawfully employ the handgun, knife, or club as a weapon against a person.” The Arkansas Court of Appeals, in a 2018 decision, Taff v. State, 2018 Ark. App. 488 (Ark. 2018) (https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/courtofappeals/en/346005/1/document.do) ruled that “[u]nder the clear language of section 5-73-120(a), the possessor of a handgun must have an unlawful intent to employ it as a weapon against a person in order to make that possession a criminal act. Under the rule of lenity, any doubts as to the interpretation of a criminal statute are resolved in favor of the defendant.” The State did not appeal the ruling. Section § 5-73-120(a) has not been amended following the Taff decision, but in 2019, both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly passed resolutions with identical wording, declaring that Arkansas is a constitutional carry state, “with no permit required to carry a handgun, either unconcealed or concealed”; see H.R. Res. 1013 and S. Res. 18, 92d Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Ark. 2019). MORE |
Antiques
Arkansas statutes are silent on antique and replica firearms. They are treated as ordinary firearms for possession and carrying purposes. |
Machine Guns
A machine gun is defined as a weapon of any description by whatever name known, loaded or unloaded from which more than five shots or bullets may be rapidly, or automatically, or semi-automatically discharged from a magazine, by a single function of the firing device. MORE |
Range Protection
A shooting range may not be held liable in a civil lawsuit or criminal action based on a claim of noise or noise pollution. MORE |
Preemption
A local unit of government may not enact or enforce any ordinance or regulation affecting firearms or ammunition, except as allowed by state law. MORE |
Restoration of Rights
Arkansas allows restoration of firearm rights lost due to a criminal conviction. There is no specific restoration process for persons who are prohibited due to an adjudication or commitment for mental illness. MORE |
Miscellaneous
It is unlawful to deface the serial number or identification mark of a firearm, or to knowingly possess such a firearm. MORE |
Sources: Arkansas Code Annotated § 5-73-101 through § 5-73-402. |
Saturday, July 1, 1995
Three young hoodlums thought their plan was fail-safe as they smashed through the front door of Leo Wilburd's ...
Wednesday, March 1, 1995
Suspicious after it seemed a "customer" was casing his isolated Woodson, Arkansas, store, Sherman Waldern, 72, reached behind ...
Sunday, January 1, 1995
Jack Parker's parents have lived in the same Little Rock house for 30 years. But the neighborhood has ...
Friday, October 1, 1993
Charles James returned to his Hot Springs, Arkansas, home and noticed signs that someone might be in the ...
Wednesday, April 1, 1992
Linda Patterson was walking to her car in the parking lot of a Searcy, Ark., store a few ...
Sunday, July 1, 1990
When a man entered Otto Long's Sherwood, Ark., butcher shop and carried various items to the counter, Long's ...
Monday, January 1, 1990
Paul Green was on his way to buy cigarettes at a Hot Springs, Ark., gas station when he ...
Friday, December 1, 1989
A teenager walked into a North Little Rock, Ark., liquor store, brandished a gun and demanded money. The ...
Saturday, April 1, 1989
Pine Bluff, Ark., grocery store owner Buster Collins was in the back room of his establishment watching TV ...
Sunday, January 1, 1989
Returning to work after hours at a scrap metal company in North Little Rock, Ark., employee Gerald Hall ...