Arkansas Employers Must Allow Concealed Carry in Cars

With the passage of SB 37 during the 2017 legislative session, Arkansas joined Ohio and more than a dozen other states in widening the expanse of concealed carry rights for employees. Effective July 31, 2017, private employers in Arkansas can no longer prohibit or prevent covered employees from storing a handgun within the employee’s own vehicle in the employer’s parking lot, or prohibit the employee from entering the employer’s parking lot solely because the employee is storing or transporting a handgun.

To qualify as a covered employee under the new law, the employee must have a valid concealed carry license, and the handgun must be legally possessed and kept for lawful purposes. In addition:

• The employee’s motor vehicle must be their own – employers may still prohibit employees from storing or transporting a handgun within a company car.
• The employee must be otherwise allowed to park in the employer’s parking lot – i.e., the employee’s car would be allowed in the parking lot if they were not transporting a handgun.
• The handgun must be concealed from sight and stored within a personal handgun storage container when the employee exits their vehicle, and the employee must retain possession of the key to the storage container.

An employer may prohibit an employee from storing or transporting a handgun in the employer’s parking lot under the following circumstances:

• The employee is the subject of an active or pending employment disciplinary proceeding.
• The employer reasonably believes the employee is in illegal possession of the handgun.
• The employee has not been issued a concealed carry license.
• The employee fails to transport or store the handgun in the manner required by law.

If the employee “flagrantly or unreasonably” displays their weapon in plain sight at the employer’s place of business, including within the employee’s car within the employer’s parking lot, the employer is entitled to terminate the employee and to bring a civil action against them.

One thing to note is that this statute applies only to the employer-employee relationship: a private employer or business entity may still prohibit a person who is not an employee (such as a customer, a visitor, or a former employee) from entering the employer’s parking lot due to their transport of a weapon, or from storing a weapon on the employer’s premises. Arkansas law allows any person in control of a physical location to prohibit licensees from carrying a concealed weapon in that place by posting a written notice at each entrance.

If you have posted the Arkansas Concealed Handgun Poster at the entrance of your parking law to prohibit both employees and non-employees from storing a handgun in their vehicle on your parking lot, you should not need to change your sign – SB 37 amends existing Arkansas law to clarify that a property owner’s ability to prohibit a licensee from carrying a handgun on the premises does not apply to an employee who carries a concealed handgun in his or her employer’s parking lot in the manner authorized by law.

Arkansas employers are advised to review existing company policies to ensure they are in compliance by July 31.