Sun Belt Conference says it wants Arkansas gun law changed

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The Sun Belt Conference said Thursday it wants college sporting events exempted from a new Arkansas law expanding where concealed handguns are allowed, the second conference to call for changes to the gun rights measure.

Sun Belt Commissioner Karl Benson said that he supports a proposal pending before the House to exempt the events from the gun law that Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed last week. The new law allows people with concealed handgun licenses to carry on college campuses, in government buildings and some bars if they undergo up to eight hours of active-shooter training.

"I too support the Arkansas State Senate's exemption in Senate Bill 724 that would prevent firearms from being allowed inside publicly funded stadiums and arenas in the state of Arkansas," Benson said in a statement.

Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock are Sun Belt schools. ASU has a football stadium that seats about 30,000 people, while UALR's basketball arena seats more than 5,600.

Benson's comments come two days after the Southeastern Conference also backed the change, saying the new law raises concerns for the conference and its schools. The University of Arkansas is an SEC school.

The House planned Thursday afternoon to take up the exemption measure, which Hutchinson supports. The National Rifle Association, which backed the expanded concealed carry law, opposes the change. Lawmakers are trying to approve the exemption before this year's session wraps up early next week.

Under the proposal, college stadiums such as the University of Arkansas' Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences would be able to designate sensitive areas where they wouldn't want people to carry concealed handguns. To prohibit concealed carry in those sensitive areas, they would have to put together a security plan for those areas and submit it to Arkansas State Police for approval.