2 lawmakers present their views on guns at Statehouse
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH)- Do you think guns should be allowed in the Statehouse?
Right now, lawmakers and some staff can legally carry inside, but one lawmaker says he has worried about what could happen.
State Rep. Jim Lucas, a Republican from Seymour, said he isn’t afraid to tell you, he packs heat legally inside the Statehouse.
“I think everybody knows I do,” he said, talking about legally carrying a handgun into the Statehouse. “I can’t speak for my staffers; that’s a personal decision.”
Now, his staffers can, too. Last spring, legislators passed a bill that allows more than 470 legislative employees to carry a firearm with a valid permit inside the Statehouse. Lawmakers already could.
Under the measure, those legislative staffers can also be disciplined for “reckless behavior with a handgun, including accidental discharge or open carry of a handgun.”
Lucas said, “I think every innocent lawful person should be able to carry inside the Statehouse. I mean, that’s the ‘People’s House.’ If any constitutional right should be recognized and protected, it should be in the ‘People’s House.’”
Lucas said the measure is well-placed.
“The bottom line is I’m going to point to our Constitutional rights,” Lucas said.
Both the House and Senate policies state that employees cannot bring handguns into any meeting related to personnel matters, including evaluations, disciplinary actions and human resource discussions.
State Sen. Greg Taylor, a Democrat from Indianapolis, said, “If we want to protect our staff, which I definitely do, we can find a better way to do it, rather than have them carry a firearm into the Statehouse.”
Taylor said he’s concerned about the possibility of an influx of guns inside the Statehouse once the sessions begins in January. He said he doesn’t know every staffer at the Statehouse; arming them concerns him.
He said, “I could say something at the podium that they don’t necessarily agree about and they could be some problem that they’re having that they could try to take it out in a situation in which I have to defend myself. I don’t want to be put in that situation inside the Statehouse.”
Does Taylor carry a gun inside the Statehouse? “I have not decided whether or not I’m going to carry a firearm. I’ll be honest with you. It’s something that is a concern to me.”