Last updated October 2026 · By Nick Hall, tracks federal and state firearms policy daily for USA Gun Shop readers
Quick take: A federal judge in Little Rock has ruled that federal railroad law does not let Union Pacific ignore Arkansas’s law protecting employees who keep a gun locked in their car at work. The railroad lost its summary judgment motion, so the employees’ claims go forward.
- Ruling: Judge Lee P. Rudofsky denied Union Pacific’s motion for summary judgment on September 30, 2026, holding that neither the ICCTA nor the Railway Labor Act preempts Ark. Code Ann. 11-5-117.
- Court: The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, in Union Pacific Railroad Co. v. Franklin, case 4:22-cv-00960.
- Why it matters: A railroad tried to carve itself out of a state parking-lot gun law using federal labor and rail statutes, and the court said no on every theory.
- What’s next: The judge asked the parties to attend a telephonic status conference to decide how the case proceeds, and no final judgment has been entered.
A railroad versus two of its own workers over a gun in a locked car. This fight ran four years, went to the Arkansas Supreme Court and back, and pulled the State of Arkansas in as a party. I read all 26 pages of the order so you don’t have to. Here’s what it actually decides, and what it leaves for another day.
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Table of Contents
What Judge Rudofsky Decided in Union Pacific v. Franklin
The order opens with two lines that set the tone: “This is a gun-rights case. But it is not a usual one.” It isn’t a Second Amendment challenge. The question is whether federal laws about running railroads stop a federal court from enforcing an Arkansas gun-rights law against a railroad.
“To cut to the chase, the answer is no.”
On the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act, the court wrote: “For the reasons stated, the Court holds that the ICCTA does not preempt Section 11-5-117.” On the Railway Labor Act, it held that “the RLA does not preempt Section 11-5-117, and this case is not one that must be committed to arbitration in front of the NRAB.”
The bottom line is one sentence: the Court “DENIES Union Pacific’s Motion for Summary Judgment.”
What Arkansas Code 11-5-117 Actually Says
The law came from Act 809 of 2021, Senate Bill 555, sponsored by Senator A. Clark and approved on April 21, 2021. As enacted, it says a private employer “shall not prohibit an employee from transporting or storing a legally owned firearm in the employee’s private motor vehicle in the private employer’s parking lot” when the gun is lawfully possessed and “stored out of sight inside a locked private motor vehicle.”
It wasn’t the first version. Act 1071 of 2017 covered only handguns, only concealed-carry permit holders, and required a locked handgun storage container. The court says the 2021 Act did away with the permit requirement, broadened the protection to all firearms, and dropped the container rule.
There are exceptions. An employer can still bar a gun from a lot on the grounds of a single-family home used as a residence, when it reasonably believes the employee possesses the gun illegally, when the employee is driving a company vehicle on duty, or when the employee faces an active or pending disciplinary proceeding. The court also notes the law only kicks in where an employer already lets employees park on company property.
And the law has teeth. Under Section 16-118-115, an employer who knowingly violates it can owe equitable relief, compensatory damages, and costs and fees including reasonable attorney’s fees, if the employee proves the case by clear and convincing evidence.
The Four-Year Backdrop Behind the Arkansas Parking Lot Gun Law Fight
On August 3, 2020, Randy Franklin drove to work at Union Pacific with a handgun in his vehicle. The railroad fired him. His union appealed to the Public Law Board, which cut the firing to a suspension without pay, while noting the railroad’s “firm position” that “bringing a firearm on property, even if stowed in a locked vehicle, continues to not be permitted.”
Franklin went back to work in July 2022. In September 2022 his lawyer wrote to the railroad citing the 2021 law. Instead of waiting to be sued, Union Pacific filed a declaratory judgment action in federal court, and the docket opens on October 5, 2022.
Its first theory was a bank shot: federal railroad injury law (FELA) cancels Arkansas’s grant of immunity to employers, so the parking-lot rule had to fall with it. The court asked the Arkansas Supreme Court whether the two sections stand or fall together. On May 2, 2024, that court said they don’t, and Section 11-5-117 survives on its own.
So Union Pacific came back with two new theories. A dispute over whether Franklin was still employed led the railroad to add Benjamin Craig, a current employee and member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen who wants to keep his gun in his locked car. Both men counterclaimed under the Arkansas statute, and the State of Arkansas intervened.
Why the Railroad’s Preemption Arguments Lost
The ICCTA argument was that Arkansas discriminates against railroads. Every other private employer gets immunity for incidents involving stored guns, the railroad said, but railroads lose it to FELA while still having to open their lots. The court pointed out that in the Eighth Circuit the test is whether a law prevents or unreasonably interferes with railroad transportation, and this one doesn’t touch rail operations at all.
“To be clear: we are talking about firearms locked in cars in a parking lot,” Judge Rudofsky wrote. On safety he was blunt: “But ‘not zero’ is far from an ‘undue safety risk.'” And on the discrimination point, he found that any different treatment of railroads “is due solely to federal law and not state law.” The statute applies equally to all private employers in Arkansas.
The judge had telegraphed some of this. A March 20, 2026 text order said the court was “99.9% certain” the law is not preempted by the ICCTA, and it heard argument on April 29.
The RLA argument was subtler. Union Pacific said its union contracts bar guns on company property, so the dispute is a “minor dispute” over contract terms that belongs before the National Railroad Adjustment Board. The court said no contract needs interpreting, because the statute bars an employer from using agreements or waivers to get around it. Employees can’t sign away Title VII rights in a union contract. “It’s no different with Section 11-5-117.”
Relying on Hawaiian Airlines v. Norris (1994), the court held that state-law protections independent of a labor agreement are not preempted. The railroad’s best case, Miller v. Southwest Airlines from the Seventh Circuit, does not bind an Arkansas court, and the judge called the relevant passage dicta.
What the Ruling Doesn’t Do Yet
But a denied summary judgment motion is not a win on the counterclaims. The order doesn’t award Franklin or Craig damages, doesn’t issue an injunction, and doesn’t enter a final judgment. It sends the case to a status conference so the parties can say how they want to proceed.
It’s also one trial-court order in one case, binding these parties. The docket showed no judgment and no notice of appeal as of October 3, 2026, with the order itself as the last filing.
If you work in Arkansas and your employer bans guns in the lot, this is the clearest sign yet that a union contract or a federal rail statute won’t save that policy in Judge Rudofsky’s court. If you work anywhere else, the answer depends on your state, and our guide to concealed carry at work covers the parking-lot laws. Our Arkansas gun laws page has the wider state rules, and the practical side of keeping a gun in your car applies the moment it’s parked.
Union Pacific argued for four years that it was special. A federal judge says it’s an Arkansas employer. Same rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my employer ban guns in my car in the parking lot in Arkansas?
In most cases, no. Ark. Code Ann. 11-5-117 says a private employer shall not prohibit an employee from transporting or storing a legally owned firearm in the employee's private vehicle in the employer's parking lot when the gun is lawfully possessed and stored out of sight inside a locked vehicle. The law applies where the employer already lets employees park on company property.
Do I need a concealed carry permit for the Arkansas parking lot law to protect me?
No. The original 2017 version, Act 1071, covered only concealed-carry permit holders and handguns. Act 809 of 2021 removed the permit requirement, extended the protection to all firearms, and dropped the requirement to use a locked handgun storage container.
What are the exceptions to Arkansas's guns-in-locked-cars law?
Under the 2021 Act, an employer may still bar the gun when the lot is on the grounds of a single-family home used as a residence, when it reasonably believes the employee possesses the gun illegally, when the employee is driving a company vehicle on duty, when the vehicle is barred from the lot for unrelated reasons, when the employee faces an active or pending disciplinary proceeding, or when the employee has been adjudicated mentally incompetent.
What did the court decide in Union Pacific v. Franklin?
On September 30, 2026, Judge Lee P. Rudofsky of the Eastern District of Arkansas denied Union Pacific's motion for summary judgment. He held that the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act does not preempt Ark. Code Ann. 11-5-117, and that the Railway Labor Act neither preempts it nor requires the dispute to go to the National Railroad Adjustment Board.
Is the Union Pacific case over?
No. Denying the railroad's summary judgment motion is not a final judgment, and the employees' counterclaims under the Arkansas statute remain. The judge asked the parties to attend a telephonic status conference to decide how the case proceeds. As of October 3, 2026, the docket showed no judgment and no notice of appeal.
Can a union contract waive the Arkansas parking lot gun law?
Not according to this order. The court held that the statute prevents an employer from getting around the protection through agreements or waivers, including collective bargaining agreements, so no contract interpretation was needed to decide the employees' claims.
What can an employee recover if an employer violates the law?
Section 16-118-115 lets the prevailing party recover equitable relief, compensatory damages, and costs and fees including reasonable attorney's fees, against an employer who knowingly violates Section 11-5-117. The case has to be proved by clear and convincing evidence.
Does this ruling apply outside Arkansas?
No. It applies an Arkansas statute in one federal trial-court case between Union Pacific, two of its employees and the State of Arkansas. Employees in other states depend on their own state's law.
Related Reading
- Concealed Carry Reciprocity Map: Which States Honor Your Permit
- Constitutional Carry States: The Complete List of Permitless Carry States
- US Gun Laws by State: Comprehensive Legal Directory
- A Trucker Is Asking the Supreme Court to Settle Carry Reciprocity
- Best Truck Guns for Your Vehicle
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