LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he’ll sign a bill that would bar state and local law officers from helping enforce new and future federal gun restrictions.
The bill that the Republican-led Legislature approved early Wednesday largely along party lines is a scaled back version of one that Hutchinson vetoed. It declares invalid in the state any federal gun restrictions enacted on or after Jan. 1, 2021, that violate the constitutional right to bear arms.
Critics say it would be unconstitutional and create confusion about which gun limits the state does recognize.
Supporters of such measures have compared them to states that have legalized medical or recreational marijuana despite the drug being illegal at the federal level.
