![House Bill Will Allow Prosecutors to Carry Guns](http://townsquare.media/site/67/files/2011/06/handgun.jpg?w=980&q=75)
House Bill Will Allow Prosecutors to Carry Guns
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - A Minnesota state House committee has passed a bill that would let county attorneys carry guns on the job.
The House Public Safety Committee's vote Thursday comes a month after the courthouse shooting of Cook County Attorney Tim Scannell by a man he prosecuted for criminal sexual conduct. Scannell attended the hearing and testified in favor of a separate bill, which also passed, to enhance criminal penalties for assaulting or killing a prosecutor.
The firearms bill would exempt county attorneys from a statute that prohibits local government employees from carrying firearms. The other bill adds prosecutors to a list of protected occupations under the state's first-degree murder statute.
Republican Rep. Tony Cornish, the author of the bills, says he expects both will now head to the full House for a floor vote.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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