The “Natural State” of Arkansas is, in general, a gun friendly state. It is a state filled with natural beauty. It is largely a rural state, it’s people known for their hardiness and friendly attitude. The opportunities for world class hunting and fishing are seemingly endless, and the outdoor enthusiast of any kind will find a spot to do what they enjoy here. The Natural State has a long gun heritage with many Arkansans still today depending on one or two family firearms to populate the supper table with food. Until the ultra sensitive modern age of political correctness affected even the hardiest states, it was very common to see rifles in pickup truck gun racks, even in school and courthouse parking lots. It is still a place where opportunities to enjoy the shooting sports, either officially in shooting sports competition, hunting, or in just going out to plink in the countryside, are still abundant.

Arkansas, like every state has some goofy rules that regulate the otherwise conservative gun laws. For instance: It is a shall-issue state meaning that the State Police must issue a Concealed Carry Permit to every qualified applicant. So, you get your CCW permit and then find out there are places where you are most likely to be shot, where you cannot carry your gun. That has improved as the carry laws in the state have been changed to allow carrying a concealed handgun in restaurants and state parks, but numerous silly restrictions still apply. Individual city and county laws are prohibitive in some cases also. However, the attitude of people in general, and of law enforcement is favorable towards guns and concealed carry by law abiding individuals.

In fact the gentleman that I took my concealed carry course from, Don Mongold, is a Sergeant and S.W.A.T. team trainer with the Sebastian County Sheriff’s department. He teaches a turn-key course including the fingerprinting, preparation and notarizing of all paperwork, and handgun qualification. When you leave his class, the only thing left to be done is to mail the paperwork to the State Police. And he only charges the customary $100.00 for the course. A good deal from an experienced officer and trainer. He teaches the class on the last Saturday of each month at the sheriff’s office. It is a walk-in class with no pre-registration required. You can reach Don by leaving a message at the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Department at 479-783-1051. I have no financial interest in the class. This endorsement is simply a courtesy for what I know is a great value to those interested in concealed carry in Arkansas.

The state is accommodating to gun owners in it’s vast forests where hunting is allowed and enhanced by the state. There are also numerous state and national forestry maintained public shooting ranges, where people can go to safely practice and enjoy shooting or sight in their favorite hunting rifle.

The last two Governors, who are vastly different in morality and social issues in general agree on one thing. Arkansas will remain a gun-friendly state. The current governor, Mike Beebe is a wily old warhorse that has historically been a liberal Democrat in the state senate. But as governor, he has enough political sense to be sure to be friendly to Arkansans with guns and to the NRA. The state proudly wears a “D” evaluation of gun control laws from the Brady Campaign on their gun control twinks web site. We could do better and with just a little more work get an “F”. That would be a great day in Arkansas.

So, if you live in a state that the Brady Campaign loves, where you can’t own a gun or where it is so difficult, it’s almost not worth it, come on down and check out a taste of freedom in Arkansas. And with the Natural State being the friendly place it is, welcomes everybody…..even Yankees.