Can a publicly owned building that serves alcohol prohibit Arkansas concealed-carry license holders from possessing firearms on the premises?

Plain-English summary

State Senator Bill Sample asked how Act 562 of 2017 (which created an "enhanced" concealed-carry license endorsement) interacts with the long-standing rules barring concealed firearms in publicly owned buildings that serve or allow consumption of alcoholic beverages. The AG explained the operating rule using a two-tier framework:

1. A conventional concealed-carry license never authorizes a firearm in any building or facility licensed to dispense alcohol or where beer or light wine is consumed, regardless of whether a written notice is posted.

2. An enhanced concealed-carry license normally lifts the ban on alcohol-serving establishments, but the establishment can re-impose the ban by posting a written notice under the new § 5-73-306(11)(B) and (12)(B). That posted notice is effective as to both enhanced and conventional license holders, in both publicly and privately owned premises.

A separate Act, Act 859 of 2017, lets privately owned alcohol-dispensing establishments give either written or verbal notice. Public facilities are limited to the written-notice mechanism in Act 562.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2018. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Arkansas concealed-carry law has continued to evolve. The "enhanced" carry framework added by Act 562 of 2017 has been amended in subsequent legislative sessions. Verify the current text of Ark. Code Ann. §§ 5-73-122, 5-73-306, and 5-73-322 before relying on any specific rule from this opinion.

How Act 562 of 2017 changed the framework

Before Act 562. Section 5-73-306 listed 17 categories of "prohibited places" where any concealed handgun carrier was banned outright. Posting a notice was unnecessary because the ban was statutory. Failure to comply was grounds for license suspension or revocation under Ark. Admin. Code § 130.00.8-7.0.

Act 562's enhanced endorsement (codified at § 5-73-322(g)). Created a new training-based endorsement to a concealed-carry license. Holders who completed the training received a presumption of permission to carry on the grounds and in the buildings of public universities, colleges, and community colleges. The Act also exempted enhanced-license holders from many of the § 5-73-306 prohibited-place rules, including § 5-73-306(11) (alcohol-dispensing establishments) and § 5-73-306(12) (beer/light wine premises).

The new written-notice override (§§ 5-73-306(11)(B) and (12)(B)). Act 562 simultaneously created subsections allowing alcohol-related establishments to re-impose the prohibition through a posted written notice. The AG read these provisions as the more specific rule, supersesding the general enhanced-license exemption under the Benton v. Gunter canon ("the more specific prevails over the more general"). So the carve-out giveth, and the posted notice taketh away.

Public vs private establishments. Act 562 applies to both. Act 859 of 2017 added a wrinkle for private establishments only: they may give written or verbal notice (codified at § 5-73-306(19)). Public facilities still need a written, posted notice.

Restaurant carve-out. Both § 5-73-306(11) and (12) explicitly exclude restaurants as defined in § 3-5-1202. The opinion notes this carve-out throughout.

Conventional license holders are unaffected by the new override. They still cannot carry concealed in alcohol-serving facilities under the unchanged § 5-73-306(11)(A) and (12)(A). The whole posted-notice mechanism is for enhanced-license holders.

Common questions

I have an enhanced concealed-carry endorsement. Can I bring my firearm into a public auditorium that serves wine at intermissions?
Under the law as the AG read it in 2018, only if no written notice is posted. If the auditorium posts a written notice prohibiting concealed handguns, you cannot carry there.

What about a city-owned baseball stadium that sells beer?
Same answer. A public stadium where beer is sold falls under § 5-73-306(11) or (12) depending on the alcohol license. A posted written notice would block enhanced-license holders. Without a notice, enhanced-license holders may carry.

I have a regular (conventional) concealed-carry license. Can I carry in any of these places?
No. Conventional license holders are barred from alcohol-dispensing buildings and facilities where beer or light wine is consumed, with or without a written notice. The carve-out for enhanced-license holders does not apply to you.

What about restaurants?
Restaurants as defined in Ark. Code Ann. § 3-5-1202 are excluded from both § 5-73-306(11) and (12), so the rules discussed in this opinion do not apply. (The restaurant rules sit elsewhere in the code.)

Why does the public-vs-private distinction matter?
For privately owned alcohol establishments, Act 859 added the option of verbal notice. For publicly owned alcohol establishments, only a posted written notice works.

What kind of notice is sufficient?
The opinion does not specify exact format. Section 5-73-306(18) authorizes "the person or entity exercising control over the physical location" to post a written notice. Common practice: signs at entrances meeting any minimum size or visibility specs in implementing regulations.

Background and statutory framework

Arkansas's concealed-carry framework distributes the rules across three statutes:

• § 5-73-122: criminal penalties for carrying weapons in publicly owned buildings.
• § 5-73-306: 17-category list of "prohibited places" for concealed handguns.
• § 5-73-322: licensing scheme, including the new enhanced endorsement under subsection (g).

The interpretive method here is structural. The AG read all three statutes together, applied the canon that more specific provisions override more general ones, and harmonized the new enhanced-license exemption (§ 5-73-322(h)(2)) with the new posted-notice override (§§ 5-73-306(11)(B), (12)(B)). The result preserves enhanced-license holders' general expanded carry rights while letting the specific establishment re-impose a ban by posting.

The footnotes also flag practical consequences not directly raised in the questions: a concealed-carry license can be suspended for entering a prohibited place; an alcohol-dispensing permit can be cancelled if the permittee allows weapons on premises (Ark. Admin. Code § 006.02.1-1.79(33)); the State Police cannot issue a concealed-carry license to anyone who chronically uses alcohol (Ark. Admin. Code § 130.00.8-4.0(j)); and a concealed-carry license must be revoked for any alcohol-related offense committed while carrying.

Citations

• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-122 (carrying weapon in publicly owned building, criminal penalty)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-306 (prohibited places)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-322 (concealed handgun licensing; enhanced endorsement)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 3-5-1202 (restaurant definition)
• Acts 2017, No. 562 (enhanced license, took effect Sept. 1, 2017)
• Acts 2017, No. 859 (verbal notice option for private establishments)
• Ark. Admin. Code § 130.00.8-7.0 (license suspension/revocation for noncompliance)
• Ark. Admin. Code § 006.02.1-1.79(33) (alcohol permit cancellation)
• Brock v. Townsell, 2009 Ark. 224, 309 S.W.3d 179 (statutory construction, no surplusage)
• Benton v. Gunter, 342 Ark. 543, 29 S.W.3d 719 (2000) (more specific prevails over more general)
• ACW, Inc. v. Weiss, 329 Ark. 302, 947 S.W.2d 770 (1997) (harmonizing statutes)
• Searcy Farm Supply v. Merchants & Planters Bank, 369 Ark. 487, 256 S.W.3d 496 (2007)

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Opinion No. 2017-062
February 9, 2018
The Honorable Bill Sample
State Senator
2340 North Highway 7
Hot Springs Village, AR 71909

Dear Senator Sample:

This is in response to your request for an opinion regarding Act 562 of 2017, which creates an enhanced licensing scheme for the carrying of concealed firearms and otherwise amends the privileges associated with concealed-carry licenses. You ask two questions concerning the effect of Act 562 on public facilities where alcohol is served or consumed. I have slightly paraphrased the questions as follows:

1) Can a publicly owned building or facility that is licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages as described at Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-306(11) prohibit individuals with concealed-carry licenses (including enhanced licenses under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-322(g)) from possessing concealed firearms on the premises?

2) Can a publicly owned building or facility where beer or light wine is consumed, as described at Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-306(12), prohibit individuals with concealed-carry licenses (including enhanced licenses under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-322(g)) from possessing concealed firearms on the premises?

RESPONSE

The answer to both of these questions is "yes," in my opinion. But before analyzing your specific questions, it will be beneficial to state the general rules governing concealed firearms in places where alcohol is served or consumed:

1. A "conventional" concealed-carry license does not authorize possession of a concealed firearm in any building or facility licensed to dispense alcohol, or in any building or facility where beer or light wine is consumed on the premises.

2. An "enhanced" concealed-carry license does not authorize possession of a concealed firearm in any building or facility licensed to dispense alcohol (or in any place where beer or light wine is consumed) where the establishment has posted a written notice banning concealed firearms.

DISCUSSION

Question 1: Can a publicly owned building or facility that is licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages as described at Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-306(11) prohibit individuals with concealed-carry licenses (including enhanced licenses under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-322(g)) from possessing concealed firearms on the premises?

Yes. By means of a posted, written notice, a publicly owned building or facility licensed under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-306(11) to dispense alcoholic beverages may prohibit individuals with concealed-carry licenses from possessing concealed firearms on the premises. A posted notice would be effective with respect to holders of enhanced concealed-carry licenses, as well as holders of conventional licenses. I reach this conclusion based on the plain language of Act 562 of 2017 ("Act") and the concealed-carry statutes it amends.

Your question is one of statutory interpretation, and so the primary task is to "give effect to the intent of the General Assembly" by construing Act 562 "just as it reads." To the extent the Act "conveys a clear and definite meaning, there is no need to resort to the rules of statutory construction." But if the Act is ambiguous, for example, if sections pertaining to the same subject matter are "internally inconsistent," then the inconsistencies are resolved by "giv[ing] effect to the specific statute over the general." And in all events, Act 562 "must be read in . . . context and with a view to [its] place in the overall statutory scheme" governing concealed firearms.

For conventional license holders, Act 562 left in place the statutory limitations: the general criminal-penalty prohibition under § 5-73-122; the specific § 5-73-306(11)(A) prohibition on alcohol-dispensing facilities; and the residual § 5-73-306(18) authority to post a written notice. Conventional license holders therefore cannot carry in alcohol-dispensing establishments, with or without a posted notice.

Question 2: Can a publicly owned building or facility where beer or light wine is consumed, as described at Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-306(12), prohibit individuals with concealed-carry licenses (including enhanced licenses under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-73-322(g)) from possessing concealed firearms on the premises?

Yes. Act 562 treats facilities where beer or light wine is consumed identically to facilities licensed to dispense alcohol. In my opinion, a written notice would be effective in prohibiting enhanced-license holders from possessing concealed firearms in a public building or facility where "beer or light wine is consumed on the premises." And conventional-license holders could not possess a concealed firearm in such a facility, with or without a written notice.

Act 562 splits subsection 306(12) into subparts, just as it did with subsection 306(11). The first part of subsection 306(12) states that a conventional concealed-carry license does not "authorize[] any person to carry a concealed handgun into . . . an establishment, except a restaurant as defined in § 3-5-1202, where beer or light wine is consumed on the premises." And Act 562 specifically adds the following to the second part of subsection 306(12):

A person with a concealed carry endorsement under § 5-73-322(g) and who is carrying a concealed handgun may not enter an establishment under this section if the establishment places a written notice as permitted under subdivision (18) of this section prohibiting a person with a license to possess a concealed handgun at the physical location.

Thus, a written notice posted in an establishment where beer or light wine is consumed would deny entry to "[a] person with a concealed carry endorsement under § 5-73-322(g) who is carrying a concealed handgun." A written notice would likewise prohibit holders of a conventional concealed-carry license from entering the premises with a concealed firearm. The authority to post written notices applies regardless of whether the establishment has public or private ownership.

Sincerely,

LESLIE RUTLEDGE
Attorney General