Topeka ? Topeka residents soon will be allowed to carry loaded handguns in their vehicles.

The city council and Mayor Bill Bunten voted Tuesday to approve an ordinance that deletes a current ban on loaded handguns in vehicles.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that in exchange for that vote, the governing board soon will be asked to make it illegal to possess a firearm while committing more than a dozen specific misdemeanors.

Police Chief Ron Miller says the arrangement is an attempt to allow law-abiding people to carry loaded guns in their vehicles but ban gun possession by those who commit crimes.

Miller says a future proposal would make it illegal to possess a firearm while committing misdemeanors such as assault, battery, stalking and theft.