Arkansas

Federal courts have ruled that state laws mandating the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms can violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, and courts have struck down similar laws in Arkansas and Louisiana.

Arkansas, Tennessee, and Utah have laws requiring public schools to teach elementary, middle, and high school students basic gun-safety principles, including guidance on proper firearm storage, and those lessons can be provided to children as young as five.

Some state firearm-safety-in-schools laws include parental opt-out or alternative-curriculum provisions; for example, Utah's law permits parental opt-out of the school lesson and Arkansas's law permits parents to opt into alternative off-campus firearm-safety courses that could include live firearms.

Florida and Arkansas have approved the Classic Learning Test (CLT) for use in public schools.

As of 2025, the black bear population in Arkansas was estimated at about 5,000 individuals.

In 2023, Arkansas enacted a law banning the sale of certain hemp-derived products that are packaged to resemble traditional candy, with enforcement beginning in July 2023.

In the 1950s and 1960s, hundreds of black bears were reintroduced into the Ouachita and Ozark mountains of Arkansas.

By the 1930s, the black bear population in Arkansas had declined to fewer than 50 individuals.

The last confirmed fatal black bear attack in Arkansas occurred in 1892.