NC lawmakers want to be armed for self-defense

House Bill 47, which cleared a House Judiciary committee Monday on a voice vote and could be before the full House on Tuesday would allow any elected state official with a concealed carry permit to be armed in "certain restricted areas," such as government buildings and courthouses. They wouldn't be allowed carry inside a school or while on school grounds, however.

Sponsor Rep. Keith Kidwell, R-Beaufort, said a number of lawmakers and and three members of the Council of State, a group of 10 statewide elected officials, requested the bill.

"We should be allowed to carry as a matter of self-defense," Kidwell said, noting judges, district attorneys, military members and law enforcement officers already are allowed to carry guns in government buildings and courthouses.

Rep. Deb Butler, D-New Hanover, spoke against the proposal, arguing that the General Assembly already has its own police force to protect lawmakers at the legislative complex in downtown Raleigh. The state also spent "untold dollars" on metal detectors and other security equipment for the complex in the past few years, she said.

Kidwell, who said he has received death threats in the past, and other supporters said the bill is more for when lawmakers are out in public.

Rep. Mike Clampitt, R-Swain, told members of the committee that he went so far as to buy a bullet-proof vest to wear on the campaign trail last fall.

"It's for our protection. It's for our families' protection," Clampitt said of the proposal. "There's only so many law enforcement officers to go around out there, and sometimes it takes a good guy. It might be one of us, male or female, may be around to take care of that, not just for ourselves, but somebody else."