INDIANAPOLIS (AP): Proposals to further loosen Indiana’s gun laws have failed in this year’s legislative session.

One bill would have allowed legislative employees to carry weapons in the Statehouse while another aimed to lift the state restrictions on alcohol offenders obtaining handgun licenses.

The Indiana Senate approved the Statehouse weapons bill last month, but it was effectively shelved after a House committee didn’t take action on it this week.

Republican Sen. Jim Tomes of Wadesville sponsored both that bill and another would have allowed people with multiple alcohol-related misdemeanors to be eligible for handgun licenses. Tomes says he withdrew the alcohol-offender proposal after it received widespread criticism, including from advocates for domestic violence victims.

Tomes says he hopes to revive the Statehouse weapons proposal in future years.