Co-chairs of the legislative Joint Performance Review Committee have scheduled a 2:30 p.m. news conference at the Capitol to discuss their plans for improving school safety in the aftermath of the Florida massacre.
The co-chairs are Republicans, Sen. Missy Irvin
A Senate news release quotes Irvin as saying the committee will gather ideas from other states and assess current school safety efforts. Their aim, they say, is a plan for the 2019 regular session.
Irvin touted the 2015 legislation that allowed school employees with to take concealed weapons onto campuses. From the release:
“School safety legislation entails numerous overlapping issues. You have the issue of Second Amendment rights. You have job descriptions of classified personnel. There will be budgetary concerns, especially in smaller districts. A statewide strategy can be complex, so we need to take advantage of the remainder of this year so we’ll be prepared when the 2019 session begins,” Irvin said.
Here’s a plan:
Universal background checks. Outlaw bump stocks. Deny gun ownership to domestic abusers. Finance public health research in Arkansas on gun safety. Outlaw military-style weapons and outsized magazines. State finance of at least one law enforcement officer at every school campus.
Somehow I doubt those items will make the final plan. More guns
UPDATE: Good timing. Ernest Dumas has written about the history of gun legislating in the U.S. for this week’s Times. Spoiler alert, nothing good will come of the latest round of hand-wringing. His prediction:
If Trump says arm schoolmarms, Rep. Charlie Collins will introduce the bill, the legislature will pass it and Hutchinson will sign it.
