Arkansas Violence in the Workplace: What you need to know

There is no state law at present that forces employers, businesses, or colleges and universities to allow guns on their property. A permit to own a handgun, rifle, or shotgun is not needed in the state. However, it is against the law for a person to have a loaded handgun on his or her person or in a vehicle unless he or she has a state concealed-carry license. Unloaded handguns are not considered weapons. Guns are not permitted in state buildings and their parking lots, school facilities, and buses, places of worship, airports, places selling liquor for on-site consumption, and anywhere guns are prohibited by federal law (AR Stat. Sec. 5-73-101 et seq.).

Senate Bill 555. Effective July 29, 2021, Arkansas Code § 5-73-326 is repealed and Arkansas Code § 11-5-101 et seq. is amended by Senate Bill 555 (SB 555). SB 555 establishes that private employers cannot prohibit employees from transporting or storing a legally owned firearm in their own private motor vehicle in the employer's parking lot when the firearm is 1) lawfully possessed and 2) stored out of sight inside a locked private motor vehicle. Private employers also cannot prohibit or attempt to prevent an employee from entering the parking lot of the employers' place of business because his or her private motor vehicle contains a firearm.

However, private employers may still prohibit an employee from entering the employers' place of business or parking lot because that employee’s private motor vehicle contains a firearm in the following circumstances:

• The parking lot is on the grounds of an owner-occupied, single-family detached residence or a tenant-occupied, single-family detached residence and is being used ...