The state of Arkansas has come under fire in recent days after a law was passed that would allow concealed-carry handguns to be brought on to public property. Shortly thereafter, the bill was changed to take college campuses off the table and, with that, a bit of the fear concerning the Arkansas Razorbacks was mitigated.
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However, that did not stop SEC commissioner Greg Sankey from releasing a damning statement about the bill.
Statement from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey concerning Arkansas' gun law (HB 1249): pic.twitter.com/WZqPQkSBwT
— Bo Mattingly (@Bo_Mattingly) March 28, 2017
This is a very cut and dry message from Sankey and the SEC, especially in stating that it "creates concerns" for the conference and that the SEC will "continue to closely monitor the status of this legislation."
There is a proposal in place that would amend the bill but, at this juncture, it has not been passed or signed in any form just yet.
Beyond that, there is a growing notion that Arkansas could fear for their status as an SEC member institution should the law pass in unfavorable form.
UA sources fear If law ends up allowing guns in stadiums it could be end of their SEC membership. We'll discuss w/ @CollinsARK at 2pm cst.
— Bo Mattingly (@Bo_Mattingly) March 28, 2017
This seems like a severe reaction but the SEC is extremely powerful and it isn't as if Arkansas is a "flagship" program for the league. That type of fear is a long way off at this point but it will certainly be interesting to follow the progress of this legislation and the long-lasting effect that it could have.
