Indiana already boasts some of the country's least restrictive gun control laws, in that no background check is required to transfer a firearm between private citizens, nor is there a limit on how many weapons can be purchased at once.
Indiana was also the first state to offer a law-abiding citizen a lifetime license to carry a handgun, for an additional fee, as long as that person continues to obey laws, according to
GunLawsByState.com.
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In March, Gov. Mike Pence signed into law a measure that allows adults to keep guns locked in their vehicles in school parking lots. This naturally brought viewpoints from both sides of the debate.
Here are six quotes on the issue:
"I have strongly supported the right to keep and bear arms. I truly believe that firearms in the hands of law-abiding citizens make our families and our communities more safe, not less safe," Pence said in an April 27 appearance on "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace."
"The bill that we just signed here in Indiana was a common-sense reform. We actually had parents that had a permit to conceal and carry a weapon that were finding themselves guilty of a felony just by dropping their kids off to school. So we made a modest change, a common-sense change in Indiana law, and I strongly supported it."
In urging Pence to veto the bill, Indianapolis School Superintendent Lewis Ferebee told the
The Indianapolis Star in late March: "Young people, schools, guns and all of that is a mix for something inappropriate."
"I think as we see events play out, people realize it's not the actual firearm -- it's bad people doing bad things. And they realize police can't be everywhere all at the same time, and carrying a firearm is the most efficient, most effective means of self-defense."
– Rep. Jim Lucas (R), who introduced the bill, on Jan. 22
"The answer is not to arm our students and faculty or to allow more guns in schools and universities The answer is to put in new and stronger gun laws that would keep guns out of the hands of criminals."
– Shannon Watts, founder of the Zionsville, Indiana-based Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, on Jan. 22
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This bill's eventual passage didn't sit well with J.T. Coopman, executive director of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents.
"There's been so much concern about school security and school safety, so why would we do something that has the potential of easily jeopardizing that with readily accessible guns in cars on school property?" Coopman told
USA Today.
"I guess my next thought is, are (lawmakers) going to take responsibility for a shooting that takes place as a result of this? Whether it is a student or whether it be an angry parent that maybe would have taken other courses of action, had these guns and weapons in cars not been so readily accessible?"
"How many young people and teachers do we have to lose before we say enough is enough?" – Rep. Vernon Smith (D), March 4. Smith explained to
The Indianapolis Star that having guns readily accessible in parked cars could lead to more violence if people let their emotions get the best of them.
This article does not constitute legal advice. Check the current gun laws before purchasing or traveling with a firearm.
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