The state House of Representatives will vote on a bill that would allow licensed concealed weapons carriers to take their guns into Arkansas churches. The House Judiciary Committee approved the bill Tuesday after a minor amendment. But one Little Rock minister is urging representatives to vote no. He says they should listen to him because someone shot him while he was on the pulpit 23 years ago.
Representative Beverly Pyle, who wrote the bill, says the House will consider it Wednesday. Her amendment says churches that don't allow guns will be able to notify members however they choose, a church bulletin, a sign, whatever they want. But that's little comfort for John Phillips at Central Church of Christ.
"I was a minister of a church in another part of the city and unbeknownst to anyone there was a man in church with a weapon. At the end of the service he pulled a gun out from under his coat and yelled something about baptism and proceed to shoot me," says Phillips.
Phillips says it was 23 years ago this month that a man named Larry King walked into the Ward Chapel Church in east Little Rock and shot him and another man who was trying to help him. Shot twice, Phillips spent months recovering. He says the courts sent King to the state hospital then jail for another crime, but the memories still haunt him.
While he understands the intentions behind the bill he thinks it's a bad idea. What if a gun goes off accidentally? "One stray bullet could do a tremendous amount of damage," Phillips told us.
Phillips testified before state lawmakers earlier this month. He says there aren't enough safeguards to keep non-licensed gun owners from bringing their guns. And he thinks allowing weapons would provide people with a false sense of security. "I think this is a positive move to address this problem before we have something in our state," he said.
The bill's author, Beverly Pyle, hopes lawmakers approve the bill. Inspired by church shootings across the country, she wants people to feel a sense of control, that they can protect themselves and those they love. She says she has bipartisan support.
But Phillips fears the bill could backfire. "I would hope that the legislators as it goes to the full House would have the wisdom to say no, guns are not needed in church."
If House Bill 1237 does pass the House, a Senate committee and then the full Senate will have to approve it too before it goes to the governor's desk.
