KBIA Local
(2010-02-22)
COLUMBIA, MO
(KBIA) -
A bill has been introduced in the Missouri House of Representatives that would allow concealed-carry permit holders to bring their weapons into churches. Current state law prohibits firearms inside churches. Representative Cynthia Davis sponsored the bill. She says it addresses the problem of church shootings."We need a way, if people feel like they need to have like an usher protect the congregation, there's no reason that we should say they can't. Under the current law, until we fix it, it would prohibit security guards from being in a church."
Davis says her aim is to remove this regulatory power over churches. Her bill, House Bill 1232, would allow individual churches to decide whether to permit concealed weapons. But not everyone agrees. Ladd Everitt is the Director of Communications for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. He says current concealed-carry background checks are too lax. Everitt says this bill would bring mixed results."Do we want to continue to arm individuals and allow them to carry handguns in public, individuals who are clearly deranged, and who we should expect to do violence eventually, and then also arm their potential victims, and hope that at the end of the shootouts that occur, if the victim has a chance to fire back, that the quote-unquote good guy is left standing."
Everitt says it would be better for each state to perform more rigorous background checks on concealed-carry applicants. The bill has yet to be assigned to a committee. No hearings are scheduled at this point. © Copyright 2012, KBIA