CAMPUS- GUN bill sent back to panel.

The Arkansas Senate on Monday voted to send back to committee a bill that would allow some concealed- carry permit holders to carry their guns on public college campuses, after the bill’s Senate sponsor said he no longer favors its current version.

At the request of Sen. Trent Garner, R- El Dorado — the Senate sponsor of House Bill 1249 by Rep. Charlie Collins, R- Fayetteville — the Senate voted 21- 10 to return the bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee over the objection of the panel’s chairman, Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R- Little Rock.

HB1249 would allow any Arkansan who is at least 25, has a permit and has up to 16 hours of active- shooter training to carry concealed weapons on campuses.

The original version of the bill contained no training or age limit and applied only to faculty and staff members with permits.

On Wednesday, the Senate adopted Garner’s amendment to put the bill in its current form. Garner said his amendment was a compromise between Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Senate Republican leader Jim Hendren of Sulphur Springs, Sen. Hutchinson, Collins and him.

But Garner said Monday he’s not going to ask the Senate to vote for a flawed bill. He wants the committee to discuss further amendments.

“I’m not going to let the Garner amendment be called the anti- gun bill moving forward,” he said. He said he has introduced Senate Bill 444 — a “shell” bill lacking details — with the aim of creating “a constitutional carry bill” that would eliminate the need for the state’s concealed- carry permit program.

Referring to Garner’s request, Sen. Hutchinson told senators that “this has been kind of a nightmare scenario here.”

HB1249 has been on the Senate floor for a few days and “other people outside the chamber have expressed their displeasure” with the legislation, Hutchinson said.

If Garner wants to amend the bill, Garner should ask the Senate to consider adding his amendment to the bill, he said. He said he worried that an amendment attached to the bill in committee won’t be successful in the Senate.

Afterward, Garner said, “We are trying to reach a compromise between both sides now because I heard from dozens and dozens of people in my district who were displeased with the amendment I proposed” last week.

He said he believes that there is “a happy medium somewhere between” an amendment proposed by Sen. Linda Collins- Smith, R- Pocahontas, and the current version of the bill. Collins- Smith’s proposed amendment would allow any permit holder to carry a weapon on campus and not require training. Permit holders must be at least 21 under state law.

The National Rifle Association supports Collins- Smith’s proposal, said Anthony Roulette, state liaison for the NRA.

Under a 2013 law, colleges have opted out of allowing staff members with permits to carry weapons on campus. College administrators, as well as campus and city police departments, have largely opposed HB1249.