Republican Senators Attempt to Resurrect Constitutional Carry in Indiana

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)-— After the Constitutional Carry bill in Indiana was effectively killed in the Judiciary Committee, with the connivance of the Chair, Liz Brown (R), the bill has been resurrected by Second Amendment supporting Republicans. From wrtv.com:

INDIANAPOLIS — House Bill 1077, known as the ‘Constitutional Carry’ bill, has been effectively revived in the Indiana Senate after GOP lawmakers moved language from the now-dead bill into the unrelated Senate Bill 209.

SB 209 was originally a bill that addressed drug scheduling, but all that language was removed, and replaced with the original HB 1077 language.

In the conference committee, no testimony was allowed before the vote on the bill. The chair, Senator Eric Koch (R) said all the testimony had already been given.

As the previous bill, SB 209, was previously passed by the Senate, this bill, now SB 209 with the original language of House Bill 1077, is reported as not subject to amendment.

As reported on indianagunowners.com:

I have the honor of being an Advisor on SB209 this morning where we stripped the original language from that bill and replaced it with the Constitutional Carry language that passed the House.
Constitutional Carry is ALIVE!

AP reports both the Senate and the House will have to approve of the “amended” bill before the end of the legislative session next week, for it to be sent to Governor Holcombe. From apnews.com:

The House and Senate would have to approve the repeal before the expected adjournment of this year’s legislative session next week. Passage in the Senate isn’t a certainty as Republican senators did not take up a similar House-approved bill last year, citing the opposition from police groups.

There is a discussion on indianagunowners.com there may be an attempt to divert the bill to the Senate rules before a vote is taken in the Senate. If that happens, the bill will likely be killed before it is voted on.

Both the NRA and the Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association are reported to be sending out notices for members to contact their Indiana state senators in support of the bill. As reported at indianagunowners.com:

House Bill 1077- Constitutional carry or Permitless carry- passed the House overwhelmingly but was severely amended in the Senate Legislative committee. Wednesday, a conference committee removed existing language from Senate Bill 209 to replace it with constitutional carry language from House Bill 1077. 

This allows the bill that passed the House to move forward in the Senate despite opposition in Committee. Now, the House and Senate will need to caucus to agree to sign the conference report.

Second Amendment activists in Indiana have been working hard for Constitutional Carry for several years. In Indiana, a lifetime permit is available for free. Second Amendment activists say it is the principle that is important. You should not have to ask permission to exercise a Constitutional right.

The issue is primarily whether the power of government is limited or not. Both the Federal Constitution and the Indiana Constitution purport to limit government power.  Are those limits real, or are they paper tigers?

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.