Quotable quotes: Legislature is full to overflowing

Once, back in antiquity, only a few members of the General Assembly were heard or seen in print and on the early versions of electronic media.

But not today.

With Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and, yes, the array of independent news stations, plus the live streaming of committee meetings and the sessions themselves -- more and more of these quotes that cause us all pause -- are coming out.

Decorum, an often-forgotten behavior, is somewhat present at times, but most often -- as the political and personal pressure mounts on these social-issues bills -- well, decorum, like the concealed-carry weapons, is often checked at the door.

Here is just a sampling from the last few days in our Arkansas Legislature.

From Pocahontas state Sen. Linda Collins-Smith on gun control: "You can't be pro-gun enough in Arkansas."

Say what?

And so a bill has been sent to Gov. Asa Hutchinson to allow concealed carry on college campuses and other venues with a limited active-shooter training endorsement added. Will Hutchinson sign the bill or issue his first veto of the 91st General Assembly?

State Rep. Charlie Collins, R-Fayetteville, the bulldozer behind pushing for guns to be carried on college campuses (and elsewhere) since his first session in 2010, was not without a gleeful quote as the bill headed to the governor's desk.

"I'm very excited," Collins told the state's largest newspaper last week. "In the long term, hopefully, we'll see fewer of these crazy killers going on to college campuses and shooting."

Not everyone was happy, including the governor's brother-in-law and a ranking state House member, state Rep. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette.

It seems the House Security Officers tried to prohibit Hendren from bringing his tiny Swiss Army pocket knife with him into the House chamber, although in the future bill on guns would allow trained members to bring firearms into the Chamber.

"This bill needs fixing," Hendren pleaded with his colleagues.

But no fix was undertaken, and none offered, before passage.

Editorial on 03/22/2017