Gun bill moves out of House
INDIANAPOLIS -- Gun owners will be able to keep weapons in their car at work and shield their information from journalists and scholars if legislation that has emerged from the Indiana House of Representatives passes the Senate and becomes law.
House Bill 1065 aims to prohibit property owners from disallowing citizens to legally carry a firearm in their locked car on their property. It would also eliminate the possibility for law enforcement to take citizens’ guns in an emergency, such as what happened during Hurricane Katrina. Rep. Robert Bischoff, D-Lawrenceburg, who introduced the bill, said that Louisiana was actually one of the first states to repeal provisions like this.
Rep. Mike Murphy, R-Indianapolis, called this bill a “real victory” for those who have a dangerous commute or job. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Jimtown, said she used to be a crime reporter and has carried a gun since then. She pointed out that the police cannot always provide protection.
Both Murphy and Walorski are running for Congress in Republican primaries.
“It’s important to be able to provide the legal means for Hoosiers to protect themselves, even in the workplace,” Walorski said. “The Second Amendment is hugely important in this country and for Hoosiers.”
Rep. Jerry Torr, R-Carmel, said he has studied the issue thoroughly and found that people keep guns for protection. He said rarely do people leave work to go out in the parking lot, get their gun and commit workplace homicide.
“It is not a heat of the moment kind of thing,” Torr said.
Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, spoke out against the bill, donning a National Rifle Association cap and a toy pistol, facetiously saying that as a member of the NRA, he supports the “Wild Wild West.” He then fired the fake pistol, saying, “Bang, bang, shoot ‘em up.”
“This is indeed an NRA state,” Smith said. “‘I pledge allegiance, not to the flag, but to the NRA.’”
Smith said that when one has a gun, he or she often times doesn’t think clearly and that guns provide “false courage.” He said when he was in college, he once became so angry at a man who was picking on him at a dance that if he had had a gun in his possession, even he may have used it.
“It shows you that when you have a gun, how many times you don’t think,” Smith said.
“I have seen situations where persons have had... a traffic confrontation, and one person jumps out with his gun and the other person jumps out with a gun,” Smith said. “I was glad that reason prevailed and both of them got back in their cars without using them.”
A second firearm bill, HB 1068, aims to restrict the release of identifying information to everyone except law enforcement. This includes people pursuing academic of journalistic research.
Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, introduced the bill after several constituent concerns. She said many of the people who contacted her were non-gun owners who still wanted licensing information protected from public access. Rep. Eric Koch, R-Bedford, called this a “common sense” bill for gun owners’ rights.
“We have the right to privacy for safety’s sake,” Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville, said.
However, Rep. Win Moses, D-Fort Wayne, said the state has gone 100 years without this legislation. He said newspapers print important information about firearms falling into questionable hands and that a free press is just as important as a free government.
“What we don’t know hurts us greatly,” Moses said.
