It’s bizarre to think we opened this year’s legislative session talking about using metal detectors to screen State House visitors. That was just after the shooting of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and others in Arizona.

Four months later, the Legislature is poised to do just the opposite — guarantee pistol-packing people access to the State House and the Cross Office Building.

Back in January, members of the Legislative Council’s facilities committee were concerned about how to better protect state facilities.

Now they have their answer — bring a gun.

Members of the committee were surprised to hear in January that the state has metal detectors, according to a Portland Press Herald story. They were purchased with Homeland Security Administration money, but they are not in use.

The thinking at the time, perhaps, was that keeping guns out of the State House would probably make the place safer.

Newly elected Republicans, however, have been swayed by a different argument posed in LD 932, an Act to Allow Concealed Weapons in the State House.

The solution to safety isn’t keeping guns out, it’s getting as many guns as possible in.

In their gun-slinging imaginations, legislators fear an angry person might slip a gun by security and open fire on them from the gallery.

When that happens, a couple of dozen well-prepared legislators would quickly rise and return fire.

Never mind that it’s never happened before. Never mind that this is the most crime-free state in the U.S. and has never experienced a mass shooting. Never mind that gun accidents kill way, way more people each year than die in mass-shooting crimes.

This must seem like a dream come true to America’s arms makers and their well-paid representatives at the National Rifle Association — a country so fearful that people won’t go anywhere without a gun on their belt.

Officially, LD 932 would require that all guns be concealed in the Legislature and that permit holders register with Capitol security before entering.

Another bill, LD 578, would have allowed municipalities to decide whether they could allow guns in meetings and municipal offices.

Here, the Criminal Justice Committee took a different approach. The public must be allowed to carry guns into town meetings and offices, whether they are open or concealed.

So, those bringing a gun to the Legislature will have to conceal it, have a permit and register with Capitol security.

At a city council meeting, whether your gun is concealed or worn on your hip, you’re in, no questions asked.

A double-standard if there ever was one.

As the NRA forces more and more guns into more and more places, what’s next?

Well, we’re thinking the workplace. Currently, employers and businesses are allowed to decide if they will allow guns in buildings and on their properties.

LD 35 would force employers to allow guns in parked cars on their property.

Since many mass-casualty shootings have occurred in workplaces, the NRA will likely use the same argument they have used in Augusta — more guns make people safer.

It may take a while for the NRA to convince Americans of that. But who can argue with their long record of making the irrational seem plausible?

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The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.