Wisconsin’s 130-year-old ban on carrying concealed weapons was the subject of verbal crossfire at a legislative committee hearing Tuesday.

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow Wisconsin residents who are 21 or older, who have completed a 22-hour firearms training course, who are not determined incompetent and who are not drug dependent to carry concealed weapons.

People, including a group of men wearing blue T-shirts that read “The Second Amendment … America’s Original Homeland Security,” packed the hearing room and three overflow rooms so they could hear testimony. Wisconsin is among six states that completely outlaw concealed weapons.

Advocates of the bill, authored by Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, and Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, argued that allowing citizens to be armed will make them feel safer by deterring criminals who would otherwise target law-abiding citizens as potential victims because they are unarmed.

“I’m supportive of this bill because it gives back to me the legal right to protect myself,” said Sen. Cathy Stepp, R-Sturtevant. “The law gives back to us, as legal, law-abiding citizens, the right to protect ourselves when feeling threatened.”

Opponents, however, say there are too many flaws in the bill and that putting more weapons on Wisconsin streets will jeopardize public safety.

State Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, said firearms could become like cell phones. For example, when people carry cell phones in their pockets, a lot of times they fall out or people drop them. If a gun were concealed in a person’s pocket, it could cause major harm, he said.

“There are myths about when a gun is safe. The person who has to react is usually the one who gets hurt,” Appleton Police Chief Richard Myers said.

Opponents also argued that with fewer guns on the streets, there would be a reduction of violence and crime in the state.

Stepp said these “crime statistics don’t matter” if she does not have the right to protect herself if endangered.

There are currently 33 states allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons without informing authorities they have a “compelling” need to do so, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

If passed, the law would require anyone carrying a concealed weapon to acquire a $75 permit from a county sheriff’s department.

However, some police chiefs are dead-set against changing Wisconsin’s law, which has prohibited anyone but a police officer from carrying a concealed and dangerous weapon since the 1870s.

Myers said he cannot understand why there are such high standards for police officers to carry guns, while this bill sets forth much lower standards for the average citizen to do so.

“It’s counter-intuitive,” he said. “This version [of the bill] doesn’t address many law-enforcement concerns. Like other states that allow concealed weapons, [this bill] is silent on many processes that the law enforcement is concerned with in terms of restrictions.”

Gov. Jim Doyle has not said whether he would veto the bill should it reach his desk, though he has been opposed to the measure. The bill would need approval from both houses of the Legislature and Doyle to become law.

Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, suggested that those who oppose the bill would have little chance of having their opinions recognized as long as powerful lobby groups like the National Rifle Association influence legislators.

Zien reminded the committee that some of its members were in fact NRA members.

“We do get what we want, and we want this legislation,” Zien said.