LA: Bill for arming worshipers OK'd by State House Committee [View All]

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http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/capital/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1272523573223580.xml&coll=1
Bill for arming worshipers OK'd
Churches could do so for securityThursday, April 29, 2010 By Ed AndersonCapital bureau

BATON ROUGE -- People qualified to carry concealed weapons should be able to keep them strapped on in a church or temple as a way to enhance security, a House committee decided Wednesday.

The Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice voted 8-3 for House Bill 68 by Rep. Henry Burns, R-Shreveport, sending it to more debate on the House floor.

The bill would allow a church to hire a security force or create its own by authorizing the church's board or pastor to tap parishioners who have concealed weapons permits to bring them to church. State law now bans weapons in houses of worship.

Burns said his bill does not force churches to participate.

]b]"If we are going to turn a church into the wild, wild West, how can we put our hearts and minds into God's business" asked Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport. "If we can't feel safe in church doing the business of the Lord, where else can we feel safe?"

Burns' bill was amended by Rep. Mack "Bodi" White, R-Central, to require a church that allows armed parishioners to notify all members in announcements from the pulpit or in the weekly bulletin or newsletter

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