Paul Braun
Although legislators proposed an array of bills to deal with gun violence and improve school safety, they have passed no major changes in gun laws in a session book-ended by school shootings in Florida and Texas.
The Legislature convened for the first time this year two days before the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and many of the bills — which would have raised the age to buy an assault rifle, ban bump stocks and arm teachers — were filed in response to that and other shootings around the country.
Even some veteran legislators were surprised by the results and attributed the lack of consensus to the vastly different priorities held by legislators across the state.
“I think it’s reflective of the state we live in,” said Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro. “People say we aren’t diverse — we are.”
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