Sunday, February 15, 2009

More on law permitting concealed weapons in Arkansas churches

I wrote about this earlier in the week after the Arkansas House passed a bill that would permit concealed weapons in places of worship. Here is the latest on the bill from the Associated Press, as picked up in the NYT. This report now frames the issue as a matter of religious freedom as much as one of gun rights. Here's an interesting excerpt:

Grant Exton, the executive director of the Arkansas Concealed Carry Association, said that allowing concealed weapons would not make churches more likely to have volatile situations, but that that was not the point.

It is a problem of the government “telling churches what to do in an area of moral issue, where that should be none of their business,” Mr. Exton said.

Of 48 states that allow concealed carry, 42 let churches make the decision, he said.

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