Arkansas – The Governor has signed SB 24 which adds Stand Your Ground to Arkansas Law. This means you don’t have to retreat if you are in a place you can legally be. Effective on or about July 30, 2021. Arkansas bills become law 90 days after the legislature adjourns which is scheduled for 4/30/2021. You can read the bill at the link below.
https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us...%2FPublic%2FSB24.pdf

South Dakota - The Governor has signed and these Bills will take effect July 1.

With SB 111 South Dakota is cutting the cost of their permits in half.
https://mylrc.sdlegislature.go...Documents/219316.pdf

SB 100 limits the government from putting limitations on firearms and weapons doing an emergency including those in the business of selling firearms. They added a whole new section covering firearms mainly because of the COVID problems and shutting down businesses.
https://mylrc.sdlegislature.go...Documents/219022.pdf

HB 1212 Titled: An Act to Clarify The Use of Force. Has rewritten South Dakotas Use of Force Statutes. There is no Duty to Retreat.
https://mylrc.sdlegislature.go...Documents/219922.pdf

Utah - HB 227 and HB 216 were signed by the Governor and become effective on or about May 5, 2021. HB 227 better defines Justified Use of Force with Utah adding a new section to their statutes. That is the same time their Permitless Carry law will go into effect. Utah bills go into effect 60 days after the Legislature adjourns. https://le.utah.gov/~2021/bills/static/HB0227.html

HB 216 cleans up their Provisional Permit issued to those 18-20 Y/O. Spells out things that were not in the original statute.
https://le.utah.gov/~2021/bills/static/HB0216.html

Virginia – Roanoke City has adopted Gun Laws banning the carrying of firearms in their city buildings, Parks, Rec Areas etc etc. This makes 11 Cities or Counties that have banned firearms on their property. The Virginia Citizens Defense League has a listing of those cities and a little info about them at https://vcdl.org/CarryInfo

Mississippi - The Governor has signed SB 2253 which becomes effective July 1 which will allow an applicant or renewal applicant to choose to have their permit noted on their driver’s license or State ID Card or get issued a separate card. http://billstatus.ls.state.ms....00-2299/SB2253SG.pdf

The above will be added to their respective pages on Handgunlaw.us when they become effective. Below are some very interesting items moving in state legislatures.

Tennessee and Iowa - Iowa and Tennessee have Permitless Carry bills moving in their legislature. Tennessee looks very good as the Governor is behind the bill and the legislature has passed similar legislation in the past. Iowa is still 50/50. Iowa looks promising.
TN Bill - https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/ap...Number=SB0765&ga=112
IA Bill - https://www.legis.iowa.gov/leg...a=89&ba=HF%20756&v=r

South Carolina has Open Carry moving in their legislature. SC is 1 of 5 states that doesn’t allow open carry. Permitless Carry was shot down in their legislature as far as I can tell. Someone will correct me if I am wrong on that.
https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php

Louisiana - Permitless Carry bill has also been introduced but hasn’t been moving in their legislature. It is getting lots of press. I don’t see it even getting a vote but then again stranger things have happened. http://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/...ument.aspx?d=1199929

Handgunlaw.us - Tooting my own horn just a little here and showing just how much you can research on Handgunlaw.us I have a new listing for my links checked. It shows the files and the number of links that each document has. Then there is a total that shows over 7900 total links on Handgunlaw.us Yes some are doubles but most are to Local/State/Federal government sites or sites that gives information concerning firearms and many statutes of the states covering carrying firearms. I check those links every 3 or 4 months. https://handgunlaw.us/documents/Links_Checked.pdf

Thank you for all the time and labor that you put into this.

You are providing a great resource!

Yes, echoing V-tails comments, thank you very much for all your hard work.

I have used your site often, and appreciate the current information on it.

Thank you very much. Truly appreciated.

Thanks Gary. Here in Arkansas, the usual suspect crowd lobbied against "Stand Your Ground" as being dangerous to they chirrins. Glad our Governor signed this important piece of legislation.

Our Gov just signed constitutional carry and it makes me happy to see the liberals go berserk.

https://www.desmoinesregister....tutional/6965689002/

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs bill allowing permitless handgun carry, purchase

Stephen Gruber-Miller
Des Moines Register
April 2, 2021

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a law allowing people to buy and carry handguns in Iowa without a permit, fulfilling a longtime goal of gun rights advocates.

The law, which advocates call "constitutional carry", will take effect July 1.

“Today I signed legislation that protects the 2nd Amendment rights of Iowa’s law-abiding citizens while still preventing the sale of firearms to criminals and other dangerous individuals," Reynolds said in a statement. This law also takes greater steps to inform law enforcement about an individual’s mental illness helping ensure firearms don't end up in the wrong hands. We will never be able to outlaw or prevent every single bad actor from getting a gun, but what we can do is ensure law-abiding citizens have full access to their constitutional rights while keeping Iowans safe.”

Democrats and gun violence prevention groups say the law will roll back background checks on handgun sales between private citizens. That's because, under current law, Iowans must pass a background check to obtain a permit to carry or acquire a handgun before they can legally buy one in a private sale.

On a recent call with the pro-gun control Everytown for Gun Safety, Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, called on Reynolds to veto the legislation.

"A person could be able to purchase a firearm from a private seller with no background check and then carry that firearm anywhere in public without any type of firearms proficiency training if this bill is adopted," Wahls said on the call, explaining why he thought Reynolds should veto the measure.

At a news conference last week, Reynolds said she would "do a thorough evaluation" of the legislation before deciding whether to sign it. She said that approach was consistent with her previous comments.

"I said I thought the policies were good that were in place but I will continue to take a look at new legislation that is presented," she said. "And I think that’s the appropriate approach, and that’s what we’re doing right now. And I’ve been very consistent in my messaging on that."

More:Iowa close to allowing no-permit handgun buying, carry. How would the gun law work?

The bill signing comes weeks after two high-profile mass shootings in Atlanta, Georgia and Boulder, Colorado, drew renewed attention to gun laws.

"We must do more than just pray for those victims and their families and we must do more to honor their memories than just fly the flags at half-staff," Wahls said on the call urging Reynolds to veto the legislation. "We have to do everything that we can to prevent this senseless violence in the future."

More:'Why does this keep happening?' Mass shootings in Boulder and Atlanta expose loopholes, weaknesses in gun laws

Iowa joins 15 states

Tennessee is also poised to allow adults 21 and older to carry handguns without obtaining a permit. The Tennessee House of Representatives passed the bill on Monday and Gov. Bill Lee is expected to sign it.

In addition to Iowa and Tennessee, at least 15 states already allow concealed carry of firearms without a permit, according to the U.S. Concealed Carry Association and Everytown for Gun Safety. Two of those, North Dakota and Wyoming, only allow permitless carry for their own residents.

In 2020, Iowa law enforcement issued 85,986 nonprofessional permits to carry weapons and 14,960 permits to acquire pistols and revolvers, according to data provided by the Iowa Department of Public Safety. Those numbers were higher than in the previous three years.

Iowa could exceed that total in 2021. As of March 23, law enforcement had already issued 41,568 permits to carry and 2,638 permits to acquire.

In 2020, there were 270,614 background checks conducted in Iowa through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which is operated by the FBI. That's the most of any year dating back to 1999, according to NICS data.

Federal background checks in Iowa are on pace to break that record in 2021, with 34,313 checks conducted in January and 30,572 in February.

How will the new law work?

The law makes it optional for Iowans to obtain a permit to carry or a permit to acquire handguns. If they choose not to get a permit, they must pass a background check when buying a gun from a federally licensed dealer.

Supporters say many Iowans will still apply for permits so they could carry their weapons out of state. In all, 36 states and territories, including Iowa, either recognize Iowa's permits or do not require permits to carry firearms.

Iowans would no longer have to obtain a permit before acquiring a handgun through sales between private citizens.

Currently, there are no background checks for private handgun sales under Iowa or federal law, but opponents of the law say the permitting process ensures people purchasing handguns in private sales have undergone a background check in the past.

It would become a Class D felony to sell, rent or loan a gun to a person that the seller "knows or reasonably should know" is prohibited from owning firearms. That crime would be punishable by up to five years in prison.

epublicans have said the increased penalty will be a deterrent to illegal or questionable sales, although Democrats say it will be difficult to prosecute anyone unless there was clear proof the seller knew they were selling a handgun to someone who was legally barred from owning one.

Reynolds on Friday also signed a law limiting the types of lawsuits that can be filed against gun and ammunition manufacturers. When it takes effect July 1, that law will prevent people from filing lawsuits related to the lawful design, manufacture, marketing or sale of firearms and firearms accessories. It will allow lawsuits to be brought in cases of breach of contract or where the gun or accessory was defective.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

I am proud of what we have accomplished in Iowa. In the span of a decade we have eliminated the "may issue" permit system, expanded the validity of permits from one year to five, improved the right to self-defense by eliminating the duty to retreat, legalized suppressors, short barreled rifles, and short barreled shotguns, and now passed permitless carry.

I think the permitless carry legislation will be at the same time the most symbolic and least useful to the populace as most who are going to carry are likely to keep getting a permit. Out of state reciprocity and not having to have a NICS check run to purchase are fairly compelling reasons to do so.