Crossfire over Indiana right-to-carry bill as gun group warns of new ‘crime’ database

(The Center Square) – An Indiana gun rights group is warning that a “poison pill” amendment has been added to the right-to-carry bill that is making its way through the legislature – one it says will imperil civil liberties and create serious problems for legal gun owners, and everyone else.

“What Smaltz is trying to do here is basically make it so a criminal background check gets run every time they pull someone over, which has all sorts of concerns,” says Brenden Boudreau of the group Hoosier Gun Rights.

The bill, authored by Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, would allow anyone who is legally able to own a handgun to carry one with them when they leave the house without having to get a license. It would allow both concealed and open carry.

But it was amended last week to order the Indiana State Police to create a system for police to be able to research a person’s criminal history at a traffic stop.

In a Facebook video addressing members and supporters Wednesday, Boudreau said that while he appreciates the “newfound” support for constitutional carry among Indiana Republicans, legislators have been “tone deaf” to their concerns.

“Our concern is that by giving these government agents carte blanche authority to come up with a system to, quote unquote, give prohibited persons’ information to law enforcement officials is that there’s no oversight,” he said. “And not only that, there are all sort of due process issues, all sort of civil liberties issues.”

He’s not the only one concerned about such a database.

In testimony last week before the House Public Policy Committee, the superintendent of the Indiana State Police testified in opposition to the bill, HB 1369, and said a crime database isn’t something that should be created.

“If the proposal becomes law, the burden shifts and the frontline officer is who must prove that a person is prohibited, which is impossible to do, because no such system exists, and frankly nor should it,” said Superintendent Douglas Carter. “Criminal history information is and should be protected, about individual people, at both the state and federal levels.”

He told legislators that police can’t look up a person’s criminal history at a traffic stop for no particular reason.

“Please hear me,” he said. “There has to be a reason. You should expect us to have a reason to research criminal history on a citizen of this state.”

Smaltz said his bill contains only a “general framework” for such a system. When questioned by another representative, he said he didn’t know of any other state that has created such a crime database for police to use.

“I think what you might see when you look at other states is, they’re going to a lawful carry without trying to provide their frontline officers with information on who prohibited persons are,” he said. “I think Indiana’s taken the more responsible approach.”

He also pointed to a provision in the bill that says that all information provided to police officers must meet “all state and federal statutory, constitutional, or regulatory requirements.”

The bill is co-authored by Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne, Rep. Timothy Wesco, R-Osceola and by Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour.

People prohibited from owning a handgun include those who have been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor domestic violence charge, those who have been found by a court to be mentally incompetent, those who have a record of abusing drugs or alcohol and those who are in the country illegally.

In addition to state criteria, Indiana uses a federal “prohibited persons” list.

During the Obama Administration, thousands of veterans who’d been treated for PTSD were added to the list, as were thousands more who were receiving Social Security disability benefits.

“Biden could do the same darn thing anytime here,” says Boudreau. “The process for getting your name off the prohibited persons list…it’s nearly impossible. In good years, with a gun-friendly presidency, it’s difficult. With an anti-gun presidency, it’s nearly impossible.”

There are currently 16 states that have right-to-carry laws, with no license needed to carry a handgun, either concealed or visible, on one’s person, or in a purse or bag or in a vehicle.

Kentucky, Indiana’s neighbor to the south, passed a right-to-carry law in 2019.

Indiana’s carry license law has been on the books since 1983. The process to get a license begins by filling out an online application on the website of the Indiana State Police, and requires a fingerprint appointment and also a trip to a local police department. It can take up to 60 days to get the license.

The five-year license is now free, while the lifetime license costs $75.

The Indiana House of Representatives was scheduled to vote on HB 1369 on Thursday afternoon. If passed by the Indiana Senate and signed into law, it would not go into effect until March of 2022.

Under the bill, licensing would still exist for those who want to carry a handgun on property belonging to the state Department of Natural Resources, such as state parks, and for those needing a license for reciprocity — to carry a handgun into states that don’t have right-to-carry laws but have reciprocal agreements with Indiana.

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