LITTLE ROCK — The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed legislation Wednesday that would end Arkansas’ ban on concealed handguns in churches.

Senate Bill 71 would allow churches to decide for themselves whether to allow concealed weapons on their property.

The bill, called the Church Protection Act of 2013, was backed by the National Rifle Association.

Sen. Bryan King, R-Green Forest, who sponsored the legislation, said the bill was necessary because churches have been targets of hate crimes and many are in remote areas, far from police stations.

“I think when we look at the situation today with the gun-control debate, gun rights bill, that I think we need more citizen protection measures and less gun control,” King said.

The committee’s six Republicans and two Democrats approved the measure.

Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, presented an amendment that would require churches that allowed concealed handguns to have liability insurance, with minimum coverage of $100,000.

Flowers said the amendment would allow innocent bystanders to collect on any damages, including injury or loss of life, connected to a person carrying a concealed weapon.

“What I’m submitting is a protection, because otherwise there is no protection for a church or a church member,” Flowers said.

King told the committee that he opposed the amendment, which he said could tie up the bill as it moved through the Legislature.

Anthony Roulette, a state liaison for the NRA, agreed with King and said the group proposed passing the bill without an amendment for liability insurance.

“We fully support this measure and simply ask for a favorable vote,” Roulette said.

The amendment was rejected and the bill passed unanimously.

Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, said he was “comfortable” with King’s bill.

“I think there is a safeguard on that one and that is the church itself can decide yes or no on that. I am comfortable with that safeguard,” Beebe said.

Beebe said through a spokesman that he is neutral on the bill and will likely sign it if presented to him.

But Beebe said he had concerns about House Bill 1035, which was filed by Rep. Denny Altes, R-Fort Smith, last Thursday and would allow trained and licensed staff members and faculty to carry concealed handguns on a university or college campus.

“You need to get input from the college administrators and personnel in the colleges before you come to any final conclusion one way or the other. The feedback I’ve had from college officials is generally negative about that,” Beebe said.

King’s was not the first bill to propose allowing concealed handguns in churches.

In 2011, King sponsored House Bill 1958, which contained provisions similar to the bill passed Wednesday.

That bill died in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which then was made up of six Democrats and two Republicans.

A similar bill also died in the Senate Judiciary Committee - made up of seven Democrats and one Republican - after passing in the House in 2009. House Bill 1237, proposed by former Rep. Beverly Pyle, R-Cedarville, would have removed churches and other places of worship from the list of locations where a licensee could not carry a concealed weapon.

The list also includes bars and state offices.

At the time, some preachers, ministers and legislators spoke out against the bill, saying guns should not be allowed in a house of God and that doing so went against Christian teachings.

Wednesday, gun-related bills were on the agendas on both ends of the Capitol.

The House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee voted to approve House Resolution 1003 by Rep. Richard Womack, R-Arkadelphia, which encourages federal, state and local governments to preserve the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Womack said he filed the resolution to show constituents he has heard their concerns through a “tremendous”amount of “letters, e-mails, phone calls concerning the recent hubbub over Second Amendment rights and all the things that have been in the news.”

Womack said he hopes the resolution calms some people’s fears by showing them that the Legislature has heard their concerns and is doing what it can to address them.

“At a base level, they are scared to death that the federal government’s going to come in and try to confiscate weapons. The vast majority of my contacts just want things left alone, no change whatsoever,” Womack said.

A House resolution is nonbinding. The resolution will be sent to the president, vice president, president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the U.S House speaker, each member of the state’s congressional delegation and to each chamber of every state legislature.

“This was the quickest way that we could get our message back to the constituents that we hear their message and we are working,” Womack said.

Womack said he doesn’t plan to file other legislation on the topic, but others might.

“There may be other things in the works, this is just the thing that we could do the most quickly to let the constituents know we’re hearing their concerns,” Womack said.

“There may be a world of things we can do and there may be nothing. It’s yet to be seen.”

Beebe said he didn’t know anyone who is against the Second Amendment, but said a resolution supporting it was “fine.”

“That’s part of our Constitution and part of what I swore to uphold, so I obviously support the Second Amendment like I support the First and all the others, too,” Beebe said.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 01/24/2013