CHEYENNE - Lorraine Quarberg, who sponsored the "castle doctrine" bill, said the state needs to have some kind of clear law when it comes to self-defense.

A legislative committee stripped out much of the language of the "castle doctrine" bill that would allow people who find illegal intruders in their homes the right to defend themselves with force.

"This really looks quite a bit different than it did when it came in," Quarberg said of her bill after the committee finished amending it.

Testifying Tuesday morning to the committee, Quarberg said Wyoming needs to make its law on self defense clearer and easier for people who aren't lawyers to understand. The committee continued its hearing on the bill Tuesday evening, after the day's legislative floor session.

"Currently, Wyoming has no statute on self defense and use of deadly force," Quarberg said.

Quarberg and other supporters have said that such a "castle doctrine" bill is necessary to specify that Wyoming residents have no duty to retreat from criminals in their own homes. They say the principle goes back to the English common law saying that, "a man's home is his castle."

The National Rifle Association has pushed similar legislation through in 20 states around the country, a spokesman for the group said last week. Legislation is pending in five other states, including Wyoming.

Quarberg has said that while she's a life member of the NRA, the group didn't help her draft her legislation.

Critics of Quarberg's bill include Casper District Attorney Mike Blonigen, the president of the Wyoming Prosecutors Association. He has said that the citizens' right to self defense in their homes is already clearly established in Wyoming law.

Blonigen and Tom Jubin, spokesman for the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, both warned the committee that there could be unintended consequences from overturning the established body of Wyoming law on self defense and substituting Quarberg's proposed bill.

Warren Murphy, an Episcopal priest from Cody, serves as director of the Wyoming Association of Churches. He urged the committee to reject the bill.

"What happens with the tourist who drinks a little too much and tries to go into the wrong bed and breakfast?" Murphy said.

And Murphy warned that passing the bill would send the message to young people in Wyoming that violence is the answer to problems. He said that goes against the biblical teachings that people shouldn't commit murder and that they should love their neighbors.

"I'd like the message to be one in which we can work things out in a peaceful way," Murphy said.