One Republican Senator from Arkansas hasn’t gotten the message. Senator Jim Hendren (Sulphur Springs) is the lone Republican in the Arkansas who thought he could ignore gun owners like it was still 2019!
In our opinion, that’s the only explanation for why Republican Senator Jim Hendren voted against Senator Bob Ballinger’s Stand-Your-Ground bill, S.B. 24! And he’s not some new kid in town who didn’t know better. Jim Hendren was a Congressman from 1995 until 2013, when he ran for Senate and won a seat. And since 2019, Hendren has been the Senate President!
Hendren’s treason to gun owners aside, the bill sailed through the Senate, passing easily by a vote of 27 to 7 with less than an hour of deliberation.
The bill had failed to pass back in 2019, but events of recent months have convinced gun owners — that is convinced voters! — that trusting Republican leadership to know what’s best is a recipe for disaster.
The bill ends the duty to retreat if:
- The person using deadly force is lawfully present with reasonable belief they’re being threatened.
- They’re not engaged in criminal or gang activity.
- The person is not a felon.
- Is not the initial aggressor
“I’m voting for this bill so that vulnerable people in the state, especially all of our daughters, our wives, and our spouses, regardless of their color, have an opportunity to defend themselves against aggressors,” Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Conway) said.
Compromise And Retreat Are Off The Table
After a tumultuous 2020, gun owners nationwide are pushing to advance their gun rights — and Arkansas just joined the crowd!
The bill’s sponsor, Bob Ballinger, said that he expects the bill to pass the Republican controlled house, possibly as early as next week.
Interestingly, Ballinger’s Stand-Your-Ground bill even brought one Democrat across the aisle. Arkansas Online reports:
One member of each party switched sides in the mostly party-line vote: Sen. Larry Teague, D-Nashville, voted for SB24, while Sen. Jim Hendren, R-Sulphur Springs, voted against it.
So why wouldn’t Senator Hendren vote for it? We think the answer lies in this quote from an article by an AP writer on Madison.com:
The only Republican to vote against the measure was Sen. Jim Hendren. Hendren, a nephew of the governor, is a sponsor of hate crimes legislation that has faced resistance in the Legislature and is also considering a run for governor.
See that? Related to the governor, knows all the ‘right’ people to run for Governor — he’s a regular Swamp Monster!
Gun Rights Resurgence Of 2021
Maybe Hendren will get slapped upside the head by Arkansas voters in his next election in 2024? Time will tell, but we don’t think gun owners are going to be as forgetful of getting stabbed in the back by GOP Swamp Monsters in the future!
Last year was a wake up call. And it looks like gun owners have gotten the message, as we see the battle to expand gun rights boiling red hot all over the country!
There is this great news for gun owners in Arkansas! We reported two weeks ago that Ohio also passed a rock-solid Stand-Your-Ground law already in 2021 — against the will of gun-control loving Republican Governor Mike DeWine.
And then to hear that Senator Anthony Bouchard of Wyoming to unseat Congresswoman Liz Cheney after she voted to impeach President Trump?
Sounds like the next couple of years are going to be one long political RINO hunt by gun owners!