New Law Allowing Guns At SEC Football Games Seems Like A Good Idea, Right?

Have you ever been to a college football game and thought, "Wouldn't it be great if all of these drunk fans could bring guns into the stadium?"

Soon this won't be the only pistol formation for the Razorbacks... (pic via Getty Images)

Soon this won’t be the only pistol formation for the Razorbacks… (Picture via Getty Images)

Have you ever been to a college football game and thought, “wouldn’t it be great if all of these drunk fans could bring guns into the stadium?”

Well, Woooo! Pig Sooie! does Arkansas have a new law for you.

On Wednesday, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed HB  1249 into law to allow people with concealed handgun licenses to carry guns on college campuses, stadiums, and bars. The law goes into effect on September 1, but gun owners will likely have to wait for the 2018 season to actually strap up during their tailgate. SEC opponents, you are on notice.

As it stands now, so long as concealed carry license holders complete eight hours of active-shooter training, they can bring a gun into Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium or any other “municipally owned or maintained park, football field, baseball field, soccer field, or another similar municipally owned or maintained recreational structure or property.”

Of course, beach balls, umbrellas, and baby strollers are still banned at the stadium, but Glocks are more than welcome.

“People like to have a good time before the game, during the game, people get emotional and angry during the game,” Democratic Rep. Greg Leding told the Associated Press. “I think the idea of introducing loaded weapons into those situations is just ridiculous.”

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Rep. Leding is not alone.

In January, University of Arkansas Chancellor Joseph Steinmetz issued a statement about HB 1249 announcing that “Our own law enforcement officers do not believe that the campus would be safer if guns are permitted. We have serious concerns about increasing the number of armed individuals posing a significant threat, particularly in an active situation when officers must make immediate determinations about who is a threat. Also, though not as important as the safety of campus, a campus carry bill has the potential to negatively affect the recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff.”

Granted, the argument for more concealed weapons is that the hypothetical good guy with a gun who did not spend eight hours chugging Natty Light in the parking lot will now be able to stop the bad guys from getting out of line.

Yet when Arkansas passed a similar law in 2013 allowing faculty and staff to carry concealed guns on campus if the schools opted to allow it, none of the state’s colleges and universities chose to do so. The new law takes the option away from the schools and mandates access for gun carriers.

Ignoring the fact that seemingly nobody other than the NRA wanted this legislation and the obvious danger this law places Arkansas football attendees in, the overlooked winners here are liability insurance carriers and defense attorneys.

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As someone who has defended against premises liability claims for several years, this sweeping change to concealed carry laws makes insuring Razorback Stadium extremely expensive.

Think about it. The stadium now has to allow concealed carry permit holders to bring their weapons into the football game. But who is responsible for making sure they are not too intoxicated to safely discharge that weapon? What is the standard for denying someone entry with a gun? Who pays for that screening?

Also, if a fan does fire a gun during a game, who determines if it was done properly in a civil suit context? Then you have to consider the lawsuits from bystanders hurt by a stray bullet or injured as a sold-out crowd rushes to the exits if a gun goes off.

That is not all, though. Odds are the University faces an eventual Second Amendment suit by the NRA if a stadium employee wrongfully prevents a concealed carry permit holder from bringing his or her gun into the stadium.

The scenarios for increased liability claims are a risk management nightmare. If the premiums on every public stadium, field, and park insurance policy have not risen yet, I bet they double by Monday.

Taxpayers should be happy to pony up for these additional costs, though. I mean, what is more American than SEC football and guns?


Steve Silver is the founder of TheLegalBlitz.com. He is a former sports reporter for the Las Vegas Sun and is now a lawyer in Philadelphia. You can reach him at steve@thelegalblitz.com or on Twitter @thelegalblitz.