Few gun bills gained approval in session

Legislative proposals on both sides of the gun-rights debate in Arkansas this year had varied results, with three becoming law, some struggling in committee and one resulting in a viral video viewed more than 2.5 million times around the world. Republicans, despite their majority grip on the Arkansas Legislature, failed to bring to a vote a proposal to eliminate gun-free zones. The zones were created after a contentious battle in 2017 that resulted in a law allowing people with enhanced-carry permits to take concealed handguns onto college campuses and into public buildings, bars and churches. In another effort, a "stand your ground" bill that would have eliminated the "duty to retreat" from the state's self-defense laws failed by a single vote in a Senate committee. The impassioned opposition to the proposal by state Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, later gained viral fame. Democrats also experienced their share of legislative defeats in their efforts to enact new gun-control policies by tapping into discontent over the 2017 enhanced-carry law. A series of Democrat-backed bills would have implemented universal background checks, barred convicted domestic abusers from possessing guns and created a new type of judicial order to seize weapons from a person considered dangerous. Only one proposal -- the domestic abuser ban -- made it out of committee. It did not become law. [RELATED: Complete Democrat-Gazette coverage of the Arkansas Legislature][1] State Sen. Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, a staunch supporter of access to firearms who proposed the "stand your ground" measure, Senate Bill 484, said Republicans "were extremely successful" in passing legislation friendly to gun owners during this year's regular legislative session. Ballinger pointed to Act 61, which cuts the cost of a concealed-carry handgun license from $100 to $50, and Acts 1051 and 495, which remove the state's prohibition on machine guns, sawed-off shotguns and gun silencers. Those weapons

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