HB1077: HOW TO PASS AN UNWANTED BILL & WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT

I have just learned that there is a chance that #HB1077, Representative Charlie Collins' bill to put guns on our state college campuses will be voted by the general Senate out of the Senate Judiciary committee, where it faced substantial resistance.

The Senate has very different rules from the House, and an unpopular bill can be shielded from public scrutiny by using this desperate, and essentially undemocratic, tactic.

If this happens, the bill will then go to the Senate floor where it will pass. 

I have also been told that this might happen as early as tomorrow.

Here is what you need to know:

1. The bill is being moved out of committee to avoid public scrutiny and opinion. The sponsors' experience in the House committee taught them a very important lesson: the Arkansas faculty, staff, students, and administrators do not want this bill.
2. Further revelation of this fact exposes the legislation for what it is: an NRA intrusion into Arkansas higher education.
3. They have chosen to do this during Spring Break, hoping that the affected constituency would not notice.
4. This represents a failure of leadership on many levels, too many to enumerate at this time. So now we must step up.
5. It is important as we move forward that we leave this historical record of our resistance to this bill—Representative Collins has said publicly on numerous occasions that if this bill passes, he will then consider a student-carry bill in the next session (2017). These moves are all taken from the NRA playbook, and we have to compile publicly accessible records of our resistance to the minority, though well funded, opinion. 

Here is what you need to do:

1. If you have a Twitter account, please tweet your resistance. Include primarily #HB1077 as a hashtag, and then as you have room, #arleg, #arplx, #NoCampusCarry; and RT similar tweets that embody your opinion. TWEETS MATTER—THEY ARE READ!
2. Send an email to our senators immediately. Here is their email list; you can copy and paste:

 [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Thanks in advance for your help. We can make a difference simply be leaving a record.