JACKSON, MISS– The bill that would provide protection for you if you had to use your firearm at church has passed on to the Senate.
This is the final stage before it would head to the Governor’s desk. If it does pass the Senate, it would only need Governor Bryant’s signature to become law.
The Mississippi House of Representatives passed the Mississippi Church Protection Act 86-32, and the senate committee passed it Thursday.
The bill is written by representative and pastor Andy Gipson.
Rep. Gipson says this bill was written after the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina.
But this bill hasn’t glided through smoothly. It has been met with harsh opposition.
“What if a mosque full of Muslims decide to have weapons inside of their church?” asks Rep. John Hines.
The bill doesn’t allow just anyone to have a gun in the church. The church would make a person a member of the security committee, and then they would have to have an enhanced carry permit–and the training for that permit– in order to carry in church.