Arkansas is a pro-gun state, but like all pro-gun states, they have anti-gun communities within them.

With Arkansas, though, that presented something of a problem. You see, they mistakenly constructed a law that allowed cities to restrict gun rights far more than they intended.

It happens.

That meant, though, that they needed to fix that. Now, a bill seeking to do just that has advanced from committee:

Senate Bill 573 clarifies existing law to prevent cities and municipalities from being able to create gun free zones in locations where they shouldn’t be allowed to.  This legislation removes infringements placed on enhanced carry permit holders by deleting a loophole in State Law that technically allows cities to do so.  However, this was not the intent of the law.  SB 573 fixes that, and expands the rights of permit holders to carry in these areas.

So, now it’s having to be fixed.

Nothing like having to pass a law to clarify an existing law, yet it happens. That’s what’s transpiring now.

Of course, some anti-gunners in the state are going to oppose this, but that’s unsurprising. They oppose anything that expands gun rights in a given state, and Arkansas is no exception.

The truth of the matter is that gun control doesn’t work except as a way to interfere with the rights of law-abiding citizens. Yet that’s all the reason anti-gunners need in order to oppose pro-gun legislation, even if it’s just an attempt to clarify a previous law.

They don’t want to see Arkansas residents being able to carry in more places, regardless of what the law currently says. More specifically, they want communities creating their own gun control laws as much as possible. Anything that interferes with the right to keep and bear arms is fine by them, regardless of whatever those measures might be.

Frankly, it’s a good thing Arkansas is correcting this. It would have been better if it had never needed clarification in the first place, of course, but this is where we’re at now, not where we’d like to be.

Of course, while you’re at it, the state could do away with permitting requirements and pass permitless carry and make it so people can carry anywhere not barred by federal law. Then you don’t have to clarify nearly as much.

Yes, the anti-gunners in the state would lose their minds, but that’s a win all on its own. After all, when are they not losing their minds over something?

The important thing to remember here is that Arkansas is working to expand gun rights, even if they’re not doing it quite the way we might prefer. That’s a note to me as much as anyone else, mind you, but it’s probably a good thing for all of us to remember. I’m glad to see it. I’ve given Arkansas some crap in the past over their legislative missteps, but they’re still fighting the good fight. That’s what really matters at the end of the day.

They’re doing better than some folks.