Current with legislation from 2024 Fiscal and Special Sessions.
(a)(1) The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the United States Government elsewhere in the United States Constitution and reserves to the State of Arkansas and its people certain powers as those powers were understood at the time that Arkansas was admitted into statehood in 1836.(2) The guaranty of those powers is a matter of contract between the State of Arkansas and its people and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Arkansas and the United States in 1836.(b)(1) The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted in the United States Constitution and reserves to the people of Arkansas certain rights as they were understood at the time that Arkansas was admitted into statehood in 1836.(2) The guaranty of those rights is a matter of contract between the State of Arkansas and its people and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Arkansas and the United States in 1836.(c) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the states under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.(d) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution reserves the right to keep and bear arms to the people as that right was understood at the time that Arkansas was admitted into statehood in 1836, and the guaranty of the right is a matter of contract between the State of Arkansas and its people and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Arkansas and the United States in 1836.(e)(1) Arkansas Constitution, Article 2, § 5, clearly secures to Arkansas citizens and prohibits government interference with the right of individual Arkansas citizens to keep and bear arms.(2) This constitutional protection is unchanged from the 1836 Arkansas Constitution, which was approved by the United States Congress and the people of Arkansas, and the right exists as it was understood at the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Arkansas and the United States in 1836.Added by Act 2021, No. 872,§ 1, eff. 7/28/2021.