INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Republican legislators pushed through on Tuesday a bill that would repeal Indiana鈥檚 requirement for a permit to carry a handgun in public, further loosening the state鈥檚 firearms laws despite and some major law enforcement organizations.
The House and Senate approved the repeal as after conflict among GOP senators had temporarily sidelined the issue.
Senators approved the bill 30鈥�20 after House members earlier voted 68-30 largely along party lines in what was among the final issues taken up as the Republican-dominated Legislature neared adjournment of this year's session.
Once the measure arrives at Gov. Eric Holcomb鈥檚 desk, he will have seven days to sign or veto it 鈥� or it would then become law without his signature.
The Republican governor hasn鈥檛 said of not requiring handgun permits, saying last week he would give the bill 鈥渃areful thought.鈥�
The bill鈥檚 provisions would allow anyone age 18 or older to carry a handgun in public except for reasons such as having a felony conviction, facing a restraining order from a court or having a dangerous mental illness. Supporters argue the permit requirement undermines Second Amendment protections by forcing law-abiding citizens to undergo police background checks that can take weeks.
Bill sponsor Rep. Ben Smaltz, a Republican from Auburn, said it was meant for the 鈥渓awful Hoosier鈥� who hasn鈥檛 done anything wrong and don鈥檛 want to be fingerprinted to obtain a handgun permit.
The repeal proposal easily but faced more skepticism in the Senate, where it stalled last month.
State Police Superintendent Doug Carter, joined by the state鈥檚 Fraternal Order of Police, police chiefs association and county prosecutors association, strongly objected the proposal. They maintained the permit repeal would strip officers of a screening tool for quickly identifying dangerous people they encounter who shouldn鈥檛 have guns.
Carter, an appointee of Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb, sharply criticized GOP lawmakers during a state Senate hearing on the bill, blaming 鈥減olitical posturing鈥� for their pushing of the repeal, saying that if
Carter, wearing his state police uniform, stood in the back of the Senate chamber as the bill was being debated.
Indiana currently requires people to obtain a license to carry a loaded handgun outside their own homes, businesses and cars, although people can generally carry rifles and shotguns without a permit. Twenty-one other states allow residents to carry handguns without permits, which gun rights advocates call 鈥渃onstitutional carry,鈥� in reference to the Second Amendment.
Democratic House Leader Phil GiaQuinta of Fort Wayne argued that legislators should keep the handgun permit requirement in place as a sign of supporting law enforcement 鈥渢o make their job safer, to make us safer.鈥�
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Casey Smith is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Smith on .
Casey Smith, The Associated Press
