Ban on guns at State House repealed

A year-old ban on guns and dangerous weapons in the State House complex has been repealed. Led by Republicans, a special legislative committee voted yesterday to allow weapons, citing the public’s constitutional rights. Weapons at the State House became a concern when people with guns stood and shouted at lawmakers from the House gallery during debate and votes on a resolution to reaffirm the state’s freedom from interference by the federal government. Democrats controlled the Legislature then and reinstated a ban on the weapons that had been in place from 1996 to 2006.