AR House Says "No" to Lower Concealed Carry Gun License Fee
By: Lisa Mendenhall
Updated: March 8, 2013
The Arkansas House has voted against lowering the cost of conceal carry gun licenses.
House Bill 1329 sought to cut the fee in half, from $100 to $50. The cost for veterans or anyone over 60 would have been lowered to $25. For those with a protective order against an abusive spouse, the fee would have dropped to zero.
Conceal carry licensing is on a record pace for the Arkansas State Police, so there is a lot of interest about the proposal.
It's estimated that lowering these fees would carve out about one million dollars from the Arkansas State Police budget.
House Rep. Andrea Lea (R-Russellville) admitted that's where the difficulty lies.
"I recognize this is a tough vote. I'm not going to pretend it's not and I just appreciate you go with me and my constituents," said Lea before this morning's vote.
However, the Republican-controlled House did not this time, failing the bill with just 31 yes votes.
The idea can come up again however, it's unclear whether it will.
House Bill 1329 sought to cut the fee in half, from $100 to $50. The cost for veterans or anyone over 60 would have been lowered to $25. For those with a protective order against an abusive spouse, the fee would have dropped to zero.
Conceal carry licensing is on a record pace for the Arkansas State Police, so there is a lot of interest about the proposal.
It's estimated that lowering these fees would carve out about one million dollars from the Arkansas State Police budget.
House Rep. Andrea Lea (R-Russellville) admitted that's where the difficulty lies.
"I recognize this is a tough vote. I'm not going to pretend it's not and I just appreciate you go with me and my constituents," said Lea before this morning's vote.
However, the Republican-controlled House did not this time, failing the bill with just 31 yes votes.
The idea can come up again however, it's unclear whether it will.
