LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge issued a statement following a major victory for Second Amendment rights in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen. In a 6-3 vote, the United States Supreme Court struck down New York’s severely restrictive firearm license regime. In 2021, Attorney General Rutledge and 25 other state attorneys general filed an amicus brief arguing that New York’s restrictions violated the fundamental right to self-defense outside the home and were unconstitutional.
“This is a major victory for our Second Amendment rights, and as the mother of a young daughter, I will always protect our right to defend our families,” said Attorney General Rutledge. “As Arkansas Attorney General, I have a duty to protect Arkansans and to make sure our fundamental, constitutional rights are not violated.”
Read the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen here.
About Attorney General Leslie Rutledge
Leslie Carol Rutledge is the 56th Attorney General of Arkansas. Elected on November 4, 2014, and sworn in on January 13, 2015, she is the first woman and first Republican in Arkansas history to be elected as Attorney General. She was resoundingly re-elected on November 6, 2018. Since taking office, she has significantly increased the number of arrests and convictions against online predators who exploit children and con artists who steal taxpayer money through Social Security Disability and Medicaid fraud. Further, she has held Rutledge Roundtable meetings and Mobile Office hours in every county of the State each year, and launched a Military and Veterans Initiative. She has led efforts to roll back government regulations that hurt job creators, fight the opioid epidemic, teach internet safety, combat domestic violence and make the office the top law firm for Arkansans. Rutledge serves on committees for Consumer Protection, Criminal Law and Veterans Affairs for the National Association of Attorneys General. She also served as the former Chairwoman of the Republican Attorneys General Association.
A native of Batesville, she is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law. Rutledge clerked for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, was Deputy Counsel for former Governor Mike Huckabee, served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Lonoke County and was an Attorney at the Department of Human Services before serving as Counsel at the Republican National Committee. Rutledge and her husband, Boyce, have one daughter. The family has a home in Pulaski County and a farm in Crittenden County.