Senate Bill 14 had its second reading Thursday afternoon in the Indiana Senate. The bill authored by Sen. James Tomes, R-Wadesville, would give state officers and certain employees the right to carry a handgun in the capitol, including the attorney general, secretary of state, state comptroller, treasurer of state and full-time employees of those offices.
Currently, lawmakers and their staff members are permitted to carry handguns. This goes back to a law approved in 2017, also authored by Tomes.
The earlier bill-turned-law allows House and Senate staff, including workers at the Legislative Services Agency and the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission, to carry open and concealed handguns into the Statehouse as long as they have a permit, according to The Indiana Capitol Chronicle.
On Thursday during the second reading, two amendments were added to the bill.
Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, authored Amendment 2, which would update language in the bill to make it synonymous with the language in the “permitless carry” bill that became law in 2022. It allowed Hoosiers to carry, conceal or transport a handgun within the state without needing a permit.
That bill was a massive concern for those calling for more gun restrictions.
“The police officers I’ve talked to told me and told legislators that permits help them do their job better,” Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, said at the time. “When they pull someone over and they can figure out that person has a permit, it allows them to approach that person differently. And now they’re not going to know that, and that’s what I believe is going to make it unfortunately much more dangerous for police officers doing their jobs.”
Now SB 14 looks to use similar language to allow more state employees to carry firearms in the Statehouse.
Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, questioned Young, asking why he wanted to make Amendment 2, worrying that a person who is not authorized to carry a firearm could enter the Government Center or the Statehouse.
“The law needs to be consistent. We shouldn't have a language that's different in one part of our code versus another part of our code,” Young responded.
Sen. J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis, inquired about training requirements to carry a firearm, Young answering that there is no training requirement under the current law.
“You're OK with folks walking around the government complex with no training at all being able to fire a firearm?” Ford asked.
Once again, Young reiterated that people could do that today.
“I'm not changing anything in the law, I'm just making it what the current law is. That's all I'm doing,” Young said.
The amendment ended up getting passed despite Taylor’s and Ford’s best efforts to convince the chamber otherwise.
Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, introduced Amendment 3, which makes it clear that the four state office holders are permitted to carry a gun along with their staff members given they otherwise meet the requirements and there is a written protocol allowing them to do so.
“That means if either the General Assembly decided our staff should not carry or a statewide officeholder decides their staff should not carry, that would give them the ability to do that,” Freeman said.
Taylor brought things back to when the “permitless carry” bill was approved.
“Superintendent Doug Carter is in charge of the Capitol Police. Superintendent Doug Carter testified against the permitless carry bill. Here in the state of Indiana,” Taylor said.
Carter issued a press release in 2022 in which he expressed a desire to continue a permit system, which he said benefits law enforcement officers and complements laws in other states.
“You don't know if they're an eligible person. The capitol police don't know if they're eligible,” Taylor said.
In the end, he said he was just trying to protect the people in the building as he requested a roll call for the amendment.
“You don't pick and choose the games you play with people's lives with these firearms,” Taylor said.
The amendment passed 39-8 largely along party lines as the bill moves on to its third reading.