Arkansas concealed carry laws and reciprocity

A licensee carrying a handgun who is asked by an officer for identification must present the license and photo ID and tell the officer they hold a license and have a handgun. This rule applies to licensees; no equivalent duty for unlicensed carriers was found.

No license is required to carry a concealed handgun, and a person carrying a weapon in their personal vehicle is presumed to have a lawful purpose.

State law says the licensing subchapter does not require a license to carry a concealed handgun in Arkansas, and carrying a handgun is an offense only with a purpose to unlawfully employ it. Persons under 18 may not possess a handgun.

The Director of the Arkansas State Police shall issue a license to an applicant who meets the statutory requirements, including being 21 or older (18 with qualifying military service).

Applicants must have been Arkansas residents for at least 90 days, except active-duty U.S. Armed Forces members and their spouses.

Arkansas's carrying-a-weapon offense applies only when a handgun is possessed with a purpose to attempt to unlawfully employ it against a person; no license is required to carry.

A licensee may not carry into a place whose controller posts a written notice at each entrance, readable from 10 feet, stating that carrying a handgun is prohibited.

A license does not authorize carrying into the portion of an establishment licensed for on-premises alcohol consumption, except a restaurant as defined in 3-5-1202. Enhanced-endorsement holders may not enter such establishments if they post or give notice prohibiting licensees.

State parks are not among the places listed in Ark. Code 5-73-306 where a licensee may not carry. Arkansas State Parks rule 22 CAR 50-114 prohibits unlawful use of firearms in state parks, provides that discharging a weapon outside designated areas or possessing a weapon in a clearly posted restricted location may be prosecuted, and notes that parks operated with federal agencies may post further restrictions.

A license does not by itself authorize carrying in a church or other place of worship; each place of worship decides who may carry there.

Licensees who have completed the required enhanced training may carry concealed in public university, college, and community college buildings and grounds; otherwise campus buildings and events are off-limits to licensees, except a handgun kept in a vehicle in a public campus parking lot.

Firearms are barred for everyone on developed K-12 school property, school buses, and designated bus stops, and loaded firearms are barred in publicly owned buildings and facilities with listed exceptions. A license does not authorize carrying into police and State Police stations, detention facilities, courthouses and courtrooms, government meeting places, state offices, non-firearm athletic events, airport passenger terminals, parades or demonstrations the licensee participates in, or posted places, among others (some exceptions for enhanced-endorsement holders).

Act 250 of 2021 (SB24) amended Ark. Code 5-2-607 so that a person is not required to retreat before using deadly physical force if they are lawfully present where the force is used, reasonably believe the other person is imminently threatening death or serious physical injury, are not the initial aggressor or provoker, are not committing felon-in-possession with the firearm used, and are not engaged in criminal or gang activity giving rise to the need for force. The parallel 5-2-606(c) removes the duty to retreat before using non-deadly physical force under similar conditions.

Arkansas's weapons possession and use statutes contain no magazine-capacity limit.

Arkansas's prohibited-weapons statute covers bombs, metal knuckles, and implements serving no lawful purpose, and does not ban semiautomatic assault-style firearms.

Arkansas's prohibited-weapons statute does not list suppressors and does not apply to items possessed in compliance with the National Firearms Act.

Arkansas's prohibited-weapons statute does not list short-barreled rifles and does not apply to items possessed in compliance with the National Firearms Act.

Arkansas's prohibited-weapons statute does not list short-barreled shotguns and does not apply to items possessed in compliance with the National Firearms Act.