Local leaders express concern over proposed gun law changes - wlfi.com
Lafayette, Ind. (WLFI) – Legislators at the Indiana Statehouse are debating whether to change the state law requiring gun owners to obtain a permit in order to carry a handgun.
If lawmakers approve the change, it would allow nearly any Hoosier age 18 or older to carry a handgun without needing a permit on file with the state.
The current process to be able to legally carry a handgun requires people to complete an online application, submit fingerprints for a background check, and be formally processed with the local sheriff’s office or police department.
Lafayette Police Chief Patrick Flannelly opposes the change. He has testified against the proposal at the statehouse in the past, and he says eliminating permits would create unnecessary challenges for officers.
“It allows police departments in the state to do a vetting process to ensure that somebody does not have one of those prohibited items in their background,” Flannelly said.
Those prohibited items include having a felony conviction, an active restraining order, or a lengthy history of mental illness or addictions. Flannelly says without a system to quickly identify legal carriers of handguns, traffic stops and other interactions on the street could impact an officer’s safety.
“The risk of danger goes up on those stops where there are firearms involved,” Flannelly said, “especially when we have to prolong that stop to try to make a determination of if somebody is proper or not proper.”
Jennifer Haan is a volunteer leader with Moms Demand Action and a local resident. She says trends in other states without permit requirements should concern lawmakers who are attempting to change the law here at home.
“If we lose 402 Hoosiers a year to gun homicide, then we can expect to lose about 44 more Hoosiers to gun homicide every year,” Haan said. “That’s a price that we just cannot afford.”
Supporters of the potential change say the current law infringes on the Second Amendment right to bear arms by forcing people to comply with a background check to be able to lawfully carry a gun on them. They also say the often weeks-long process of waiting for approval from the state is a burden.
Haan says she received her handgun permit in six weeks and believes waiting that long for approval is a small price to pay.
“We would say that it is a burden to lose a child to gun violence,” Haan said, “and all this bill will do is add to our already raging gun violence crisis that we have in Indiana.”
Flannelly says changing the state law would go against what most Hoosiers want.
“An overwhelming majority of residents in the State of Indiana oppose permitless carry,” Flannelly said. “We’re about ready to change the law that’s been in place for several decades that protects Hoosiers and the citizens in this community.”
The proposal has gone through multiple phases during the current legislative session. First introduced as House Bill 1077, it was killed in the senate before being revived in a separate and unrelated bill in the senate this week. In order to reach Governor Eric Holcomb’s desk, all four caucuses in the Indiana House and Senate must approve the language of the revised bill first. If they do, then each chamber will vote on the final version.
This year’s session ends on Monday, March 14. Flannelly says while lawmakers are deciding how to proceed, residents should make their voices heard.
“I certainly hope that people will reach out to their state legislators and tell them, ‘I oppose this bill, and I don’t want to see permitless carry in the State of Indiana,’” Flannelly said.
source: https://www.wlfi.com/community/local-leaders-express-concern-over-proposed-gun-law-changes/article_6eaf2712-9bb0-11ec-801e-cf61c178c19b.html
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