On March 8, 2022, the Indiana legislature, on the last day of the session, after byzantine twists and turns of the legislative process, voted to pass Constitutional Carry legislation three hours before the session ended for the year.
Indiana Second Amendment activists have been working to pass similar legislation for years. In 2021, a Constitutional Carry (permitless) bill passed the House 64 to 31, before being killed in the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Liz Brown (R -15).
In 2022, Senator Brown worked hard to kill a new bill, and came very close to succeeding. In 2022, the Republican leadership in the Senate appears to have been educated about Constitutional Carry. They used legislative procedures to bring the bill to a vote in spite of the machinations of Senator Brown, who, it is rumored, was working with Republican Governor Holcomb to kill the bill.
The bill was brought to the rules committee after the debacle of the Judiciary Committee hearing chaired by Brown. The rules committee decided it was too late in the session for anything to be done. Then the bill language was substituted for another bill which had already passed the Senate. This procedure (strike all) is sometimes used to work around a committee chair who blocks a popular bill.
Several other procedures were used before the bill finally came to a vote of the House as HB 1296 at about 5:30 p.m. on March 8th. It passed, 69 to 30. The full Senate debated, then passed HB 1296 at about 9 p.m. The vote was 30 to 20. Senator Brown and eight other Republicans voted against the bill. The bill would not have passed without the assistance of the Senate Republican leadership.
Many have asked: Will Governor Holcomb (R) veto the Constitutional Carry bill?
He may, but this correspondent doubts that he will. Indiana limits the power of the Governor's veto more than most other states. In 2021, the Indiana legislature overrode Governor Holcomb's vetoes three times.
If the Governor does nothing, the bill becomes law in seven days.
If the Governor vetoes the bill, a majority vote in both chambers is necessary to override the veto.
The legislature has until the end of the next legislative session to override the veto, or they can call a special session to override a veto earlier.
New laws generally take effect on July 1 of the year they are passed.
Indiana is well on the way to becoming the 22nd, 23rd, or 24th state to join the Constitutional Carry club. Ohio and Alabama are very close to passing Constitutional Carry, so the sequence is uncertain.
At the beginning of 2022, there were
21 members of the Constitutional Carry (permitless) club. They were:
Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
This correspondent predicted 2 - 4 states would pass Constitutional Carry bills in 2022. That prediction still holds. If four states pass Constitutional carry, then half of all states in the United States will have restored the state of law to where no permit was required to carry a loaded handgun, concealed or openly, in most public spaces, as it was in 1791.
Long experience has shown that violent crime and suicides do not rise when people, who have not shown themselves to be a danger to themselves or others, carry firearms without government permission.
The requirement to obtain a government permission slip to carry a firearm, is an infringement on the right to bear arms, as stated in the Second Amendment.
©2022 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
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