Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge tried to provide some clarity on two hotly contested state laws with a pair of legal opinions on the open carry of handguns and local anti-discrimination protections. Instead, it’s increasingly likely courts or the Legislature will have to resolve both issues.
Conservatives cheered the Republican attorney general’s non-binding opinions over the past two weeks that a 2013 law legalized open carry of handguns and another law enacted this year prevented local anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
About the only thing both sides of either debate can agree on is that Rutledge’s opinion won’t be the end of either fight.
Rutledge’s opinion on the open carry of handguns reversed the position of her Democratic predecessor, Dustin McDaniel, who two years ago said that wasn’t the intent of the 2013 law. Gun rights advocates have criticized that interpretation, with some groups staging events where participants march in public with their handguns openly displayed.
Rutledge’s opinion was hardly a surprise, considering she ran for the job as Arkansas’ top lawyer touting herself as a “gun-carrying conservative” who would defend the Second Amendment. Rutledge, however, was careful in her opinion to say she didn’t encourage the practice of open carry.
“This means in general merely possessing a handgun on your person or in your occupied vehicle does not violate (the law) and may be done if it does not violate other laws or regulations,” Rutledge said in the non-binding opinion.
Rutledge’s opinion included several caveats, noting that the 2013 law doesn’t change existing prohibitions on guns at certain location such as the state Capitol and public schools. She also said private property owners still have the right to prohibit weapons on their premises, and that carrying a concealed handgun still requires a license from the state.
Rutledge suggested lawmakers revisit the issue.
“Ultimately, the confusion created would be best alleviated by additional legislative action to clarify what Act 746 was trying to accomplish,” she wrote.
Pulaski County Prosecutor Larry Jegley, who said he doesn’t believe the 2013 law allowed open carry, said the conflicting opinions from McDaniel and Rutledge show the need for follow-up action by lawmakers.
“If you’ve got divergent opinions from two different attorneys general, and that being the case, I think it’s a call to action for the Legislature,” Jegley said. “But I don’t think it’s anything that anyone needs to get panicked about.”
It’s unclear whether lawmakers are willing to revisit the issue, with open carry supporters fearing a renewed debate could open the door for new restrictions on a practice they argue is already their right. With at least one person already convicted of illegally carrying a handgun openly, it’s a fight that could ultimately land before the state’s highest court.
That also appears to be the likely venue for the fight over a state law aimed at preventing local protections for LGBT people. Rutledge last week said five anti-discrimination ordinances were unenforceable because of a state law preventing local protections that go beyond what’s already in state law.
The measures in Little Rock, Hot Springs, Eureka Springs, Fayetteville and Pulaski County were adopted in response to the Legislature’s passage of the law prohibiting cities and counties from banning discrimination on a basis not covered by state law.
Her opinion came a week before Fayetteville voters were set to vote on that city’s ordinance. A judge rejected an attempt to block Tuesday’s vote on the measure, but opponents say they’ll continue challenging its legality. Court battles are also expected over the other anti-discrimination ordinances.
Supporters of the local protections say it’s a fight for which they’re prepared.
“This is just the honorable attorney general’s opinion. Ultimately I’m sure these issues will be settled in a court of law,” Eureka Springs Mayor Robert “Butch” Berry said.
Andrew DeMillo has covered Arkansas government and politics for The Associated Press since 2005. Follow him on Twitter at Twitter.com/ademillo.
(Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten, broadcast or distributed.)
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