Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment (SJR 11 of 2025) — Overview

Page last updated October 4, 2026 · Analysis validated October 4, 2026 · Sources last checked September 9, 2026

Issue 2 — Right to Keep and Bear Arms

What it is

Issue 2 would change a section of the Arkansas Constitution that is already there. Voters decide it on November 3, 2026.

How it reached the ballot

The General Assembly referred it. It did not come from a citizen petition. Lawmakers proposed it in 2025 as Senate Joint Resolution 11. Senator J. Payton was the lead sponsor. Fourteen other senators and more than forty representatives joined him. The resolution was revised three times. Both chambers adopted the third version, dated March 12, 2025. That is the version on the ballot.

What it is called

The resolution sets its own popular name: "A Constitutional Amendment to Amend Arkansas Constitution, Article 2, § 5, to Protect the Right to Keep and Bear Arms."

What the constitution says now

Article 2, Section 5 (the right to bear arms) is one sentence. It is headed "Right to bear arms." It says the citizens of this State shall have the right to keep and bear arms, for their common defense. There are no subsections. That is the whole section.

What would change

The section would be rewritten as three subsections and six enumerated items.

The right to bear arms: one sentence, or three subsections The current phrase "for their common defense" becomes the first of three purposes, and the rest, in the right-hand column, is new.

Arkansas Constitution today	As SJR 11 would read it
Headed "Right to bear arms" One sentence, no subsections The right to keep and bear arms, for their common defense No mention of hunting or recreational use No mention of ammunition or firearm parts No "shall not be infringed" language	Headed "Right to keep and bear arms" Three subsections, six enumerated items (a) three purposes: common defense; lawful hunting and recreational use; any other lawful purpose (b) includes ammunition, firearm accessories, firearm components (c) a "natural, fundamental, and individual right that shall not be infringed"

The first subsection keeps the right and names three purposes for it. Common defense is one. Lawful hunting and recreational use is the second. Any other lawful purpose is the third. Only common defense is in the constitution today.

The second subsection says the right includes the possession and use of ammunition, firearm accessories, and firearm components. None of that is in the section today.

The third subsection says the right is a "natural, fundamental, and individual right that shall not be infringed." That language is not in the section today either.

The heading changes too. It would read "Right to keep and bear arms."

What the resolution says it is for

Its first section states the intent plainly. It is to protect the right to keep and bear arms guaranteed under the Arkansas Constitution.

When it would take effect

A majority of the votes cast on the measure decides it. If it passes, the amendment starts on January 1, 2027.

Where to read it yourself

The Secretary of State publishes the ballot notice for Issue No. 2 — two pages: the popular name, the ballot title and the full text of the amendment. It does not print a ballot question. The Arkansas General Assembly publishes the full text of Senate Joint Resolution 11, which is the measure itself. ARvoters holds both documents. On September 9, 2026, we checked that each file matches the one the State published.

[Corrected October 4, 2026: Earlier editions said the Secretary of State's ballot notice for Issue No. 2 is one page with the ballot title and question. It is two pages. It carries the popular name, the ballot title and the full text of the amendment. It does not print a ballot question.]

Questions for discussion

The section today ties the right to common defense. What have Arkansas courts said that phrase means? Would adding two more purposes change how the section is read?
What does "shall not be infringed" ask of the legislature and the courts that the current wording does not?
Naming ammunition, accessories and components is new. Which state laws, if any, would that reach?
"Any other lawful purpose" leaves what is lawful to be decided elsewhere. Who decides it, and how could that change over time?
The Second Amendment already applies in Arkansas. What does a state provision add?
This measure came from the legislature, not from a petition. Should a voter weigh a referred measure any differently?

The information above is provided as context for this issue. As additional primary-source data becomes available, this Overview will be expanded as warranted, and companion reports may be published providing more detailed analysis of the issue, including its examination through the three constitutional interpretive traditions recognized by ARvoters.com.

By policy, ARvoters.com builds its findings on published primary data. Material issued by a government body — an agency, a court, or an official office — is a source document, whether obtained directly or carried in news coverage. Independent reporting, commentary, opinion, and social-media discussion are radar indicators — signals of where to look. Where a finding rests on reporting that attributes a named official statement, it is presented as reported rather than established, until the issuing body's own record is obtained. Reporting that rests on unnamed sources is never treated as establishing a fact. Independent news is not considered qualifying source material, but may be cited for context as unverified information with respect to the actual source.

Standing disclaimers:

Video Content — Not Reviewed

ARvoters does not review video content posted to a public body's website or elsewhere relative to any ordinance, resolution or other adopted instrument, and assumes no responsibility for statements, assertions, or policy positions implied or specified in such video content. Any such policy content is outside the scope of this analysis unless formally documented in the text of the instrument. Whether policy may be formed or altered through statements made on video without corresponding entry into the text of the instrument is a legal question outside the scope of this framework.

Documentary Scope — Limited to the Cited Record

ARvoters analysis is limited to the text of the instrument as adopted or filed in the public record — a bill, act or amendment, or an ordinance, resolution, or other action of a city council, quorum court or comparable body — together with any other record this report expressly cites. ARvoters does not review, incorporate, or assume responsibility for any material this report does not cite — including but not limited to notes, minutes, committee reports, fiscal impact statements, official or unofficial comments, opinions, press releases, or any other discussion.

ARvoters also does not review or incorporate court opinions — whether pending, published, or prospective — that may relate, directly, indirectly, or by implication, to the instrument under analysis.

Whether policy may be formed, altered, or interpreted through materials outside the text of the instrument is a legal question outside the scope of this framework.