Two dozen. With the addition of Indiana, the constitutional carry club now has 24 members. Three (so far) in 2022. Governor Eric Holcomb signed the bill into law this afternoon and issued this statement . . .
The Second Amendment has been debated for years, yet time and again our U.S. Supreme Court has reaffirmed this important constitutional right that I fully support. Twenty-three other states have laws comparable to HEA 1296. Vermont has had a constitutional carry law in place since it became a state, and several other states have had a similar law for more than a decade. HEA 1296, which I’ve signed today, entrusts Hoosiers who can lawfully carry a handgun to responsibly do so within our State. It’s important to note that if a person is prohibited, under federal or state laws, from possessing a firearm before this law goes into effect, that person will still be prohibited. And if a prohibited person has a firearm, he or she can be prosecuted. Firearm permits will remain available, without fee, to anyone who wants or needs one, such as Hoosiers desiring to carry a firearm to, through or in another state that has reciprocity with Indiana.
That sound you hear in the distance is a hundred red-shirted moms screaming out in frustration and defeat. The Firearms Policy Coalition cheered the Hoosiers’ move . . .
Today, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the Firearms Policy Coalition-supported House Bill 1296 into law, making it the 24th state to enact permitless carry legislation. Under the law, peaceable adults, 18 years of age and older who are not otherwise prohibited from carrying or owning a firearm, will no longer need a license to carry either open or concealed in the Hoosier state. The law will go into effect July 1.
FPC applauds Gov. Holcomb for honorably siding with the constitutions of both Indiana and the United States.We also wish to thank the bill’s author, Rep. Ben Smaltz, as well as the Indiana state senators and representatives who actively supported H.B. 1296’s passing, despite multiple efforts to derail and gut the bill by amendment from the Republican Chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Liz Brown.
