PROVIDENCE, R.I. — In a uniquely Rhode Island moment, the gold-framed portrait of former House Speaker-turned-gun rights lobbyist William Murphy stared down from the State House hearing room wall at gun-control activist Peter Bilderback while he tried to persuade state lawmakers to ban guns — except those belonging to "peace officers" — from school grounds.

Bilderback came to the State House Tuesday night armed with statistics and a personal story: his own son had nightmares about his Barrington middle school teacher hunting him down after the teacher (who is no longer there) allegedly told him he kept a gun in his desk.

His son, then in sixth grade, was terrified, Bilderback told the House Judiciary Committee earlier this week.

His statistic: Between 2000-2013, the FBI found only one out of 160 "active shooting incidents" was stopped by a civilian with a firearm, so "the notion that making sure that there is a gun in the school is going to make people perfectly safe is flawed.''

"But what's the alternative?'' Judiciary Committee Chairman Cale Keable, D-Burrillville, demanded. "The alternative is someone shooting at kids and no one shooting back... That's not more scary to you?"

"What you are doing is creating one particular scenario...," began Bilderback, a board member of the citizen-led Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence.

"Which would you prefer?'' Keable interjected. "An armed shooter intent on doing damage in a school being unabated... or a concerned citizen shooting back at him and [potentially] missing three-fourths of the time?"

"It's a really great question...," Bilderback began. "May I have an answer?" Keable pushed.

"If you'll give me a chance,'' Bilderback replied. "I definitely understand the temptation [to say]: 'If only someone had a gun, this could have all been prevented'... The problem is: You are taking a basically improbable event, especially in comparison to the more prosaic things that are likely to happen with a gun in the school on a day-to-day basis. The accidents, the gun falling into the wrong hands...''

Keable: "You are not answering my question... In my very hypothetical situation which would you prefer... A or B?"

Bilderback: "I don't want that gun in the hands of a teacher... I would prefer that we leave this to the people who are trained to deal with these situations." ("Why won't you answer my question?") "I think I just did." ("No, I don't think you have, sir.") "I would prefer the gun not be there."

The back-and-forth represented one of the tense exchanges in an 8½-hour hearing on 15 gun-related measures, that ended at 2 a.m.

The agenda included bills to remove perceived roadblocks to obtaining a concealed-weapons permit in Rhode Island, to recognize concealed-carry gun permits from other states, to ban high-capacity magazines and to limit guns on school grounds to police and other "peace officers,'' such as campus security officers, a move backed by a reported 21 school committees. (The state's top law enforcement agencies sent letters opposing the efforts to make it any easier to carry a concealed weapon.)

The National Rifle Association's Darin Goens argued against each proposed new restriction.

On guns in schools, Dean Hoxsie, president of the R.I. Police Chiefs Association, wrote: "While many... argue that allowing a person with the lawful ability to carry a firearm on school grounds will provide protection, we believe that this is an overstatement.

"Those lawful owners may certainly be able to provide protection if they are present [when] there is a threat or danger... but this scenario certainly does not account for the vast majority of time that our children and school staff are present on school grounds.''

On Wednesday morning, Bilderback, a 47-year-old administrator in the physics department at Brown University, said he wished he had told Keable: "When there is someone on the loose with a gun in [a] school, of course, I would prefer to have someone armed'' to fight back, but that is "fortunately one highly unlikely scenario... That does not account for all the time the gun is going to be in the school.''

"We'll minimize the chance of an accidental shooting, right?,'' Rep. Jason Knight, D-Barrington, said to Bilderback at the hearing.

"Correct,'' he answered.