LITTLE ROCK, AR - The Arkansas Speaker of the House says he's not a fan of open carry for guns.
Now Republican Davy Carter of Cabot is dealing with some pretty significant pushback from those who support the idea.
If you carry a gun in public, no one is supposed to know. But the 17-page
HB1408, dubbed the "open carry act", means you know longer have to conceal your weapon.
Bill sponsor Rep Sue Scott (R-Rogers) says she's received hundreds of e-mails in support.
"It's the right thing to do,” Scott says. “You know, we look at other states who have had this for quite a while. And it's like Arkansas does a lot of the times, we're playing catch up."
Her Republican colleague, House speaker Carter has also received hundreds of emails after he came out against the idea this week.
"To suggest that I'm some anti second amendment legislator is just absurd," Carter said Friday.
But Carter found his twitter feed littered with terms like "elitist progressive" "anti-self defense", and perhaps the biggest dig for a Republican, "liberal."
"People in this state want somebody to tell them what they think regardless of all this party stuff and I'm going to tell you what I think,” Carter told FOX16 Friday. “If it makes Democrats mad or Republicans mad, I don't care."
Scott says she plans to run her bill in committee as early as next week.
"I feel badly for him (Carter) because of that, I do, but it has not deterred me," Scott says.
Scott says the second amendment right to bear arms includes open-carry, especially if citizens have already gone through the permitting process.
