INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana will have four statewide elected officials, including the attorney general and secretary of state, under a revived bill that lawmakers sent to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb on Thursday. People will now be able to carry handguns inside the Capitol.
Members of the General Assembly and their staff already have the right to carry handguns on the grounds of the state capitol and complex. The new measure would also eliminate a requirement for lawmakers and their staff to have a valid Indiana license.
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An original state Senate proposal on the issue failed to pass a second floor vote last month. But lawmakers revived the idea late in the session by adding language to another bill.
However, the latest implementation does not extend the rights to staff members of elected officials, as originally proposed. Holcomb’s office declined to comment on whether he supports the measure.
The Indiana State Capitol appears in Indianapolis on May 5, 2017. Thursday, March 7, 2024 Four statewide elected officials in Indiana, including the attorney general and secretary of state, will be able to carry handguns at the state Capitol thanks to a bill sent to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb. I was allowed to carry it with me.
The final compromise would allow state attorneys general, secretaries of state, treasurers and comptrollers to carry handguns unless prohibited by state or federal law. This language was added to House Bill 1084, which would prohibit government agencies from keeping lists or records of privately owned firearms or firearm owners.
The bill was opposed by the Democratic caucus in the state Senate, which passed the final version by a vote of 39-9.
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Greg Taylor voted against the change because it would also eliminate licensing requirements for members of the General Assembly and their staff to operate on Capitol grounds. He said he threw it.
“Before, there was at least an understanding” of restrictions on people carrying them in the Capitol, he said.
Twenty-one states allow some form of gun possession in U.S. statehouses, according to a 2021 investigation by The Associated Press. In 2022, Indiana repealed a state law requiring permits to carry handguns in public.
Indiana State Treasurer Daniel Elliott, who testified on the measure, said he expects talks to continue next year to increase staffing levels across the state.
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“Hoosiers’ Second Amendment rights should not end at the state Capitol,” he said in a written statement.
Metal detectors are installed at public entrances to the Capitol grounds. State employees with a valid access badge do not have to pass through a detector to enter the building.
