Will Indiana be the Next State to Pass Constitutional Carry?

Could Indiana become the next Constitutional Carry state?

According to Tom Knighton of Bearing Arms, Indiana Republican elected officials are reintroducing legislation that allow lawful residents of Indiana to carry a handgun without a permit.

A number of elected officials in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly are crafting legislation to scrap the permit requirement for carrying a firearm in the Hoosier State.
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“It’s still to me, it’s an infringement of our constitutional rights to mandate, require somebody to jump through hoops, go get fingerprinted, pay a fee – you still have to pay to get your fingerprints done – wait God only knows how long,” stated State Representative Jim Lucas, one of the reps who plans to introduce Constitutional Carry legislation.

Lucas stressed that the bill would still prevent anyone already prohibited from carrying a firearm from doing so under Constitutional Carry.

“If you’re a felon, this doesn’t apply to you,” declared Guy Relford, founder and CEO of The 2A Project, a pro-Second Amendment organization. “If you’ve been convicted, even of a misdemeanor crime, of domestic violence, this doesn’t apply to you. If you’ve been adjudicated to be mentally ill, this doesn’t apply to you.”

The partisan makeup of the General Assembly is thoroughly Republican. The GOP controls the House of Representatives by a 71-29 margin and the State Senate by a 39-11 margin. However, this is no guarantee that Constitutional Carry will be passed.

In fact, on previous occasions, Indiana Republicans have watered down Constitutional Carry bills and have failed to pass this bill, something that should be a given due to Indiana’s Republican control.

It should be stressed that Republicans will say anything to get elected. But once in office they’ll drag their feet. That’s why the grassroots must turn up the heat on them, and if they drop the ball legislatively, they must be replaced in the primaries.

It’s that simple. If grassroots activists apply such pressure and legislative standards nationwide, they’ll make the GOP a much more conservative party that passes legislation that its base desires.