IN: Free Handgun Carry Permit Goes into Effect on 1 July, 2020

On April 26, 2019, Indiana HB 1284 became Public Law 107. The bill was a major reform of firearm carry law in Indiana.

One of the reforms was free five year permits for the carry of handguns in Indiana, after 1 July, 2020..

Most of the reforms went into effect immediately when the bill became law.

They included:

Law enforcement offices were required to provide a voter registration form whenever a person applied for a license to carry a handgun.

People who justifiably defended themselves with force, in most instances, were granted immunity from civil lawsuit.

If the immunity defense was raised and prevailed, reasonable attorney's fees and costs would be awarded to the defendant by the court.

The restriction on carrying/possessing guns on school property  was removed for people who were attending worship services or religious ceremonies on school property as an employee or volunteer of a house of worship located on school property.

The duration of a handgun carry license was changed from four years to five years.
Here is the wording removing the fee for five year licenses. The application fee for lifetime licenses becomes $50, or $40 if you have a current five year license.  First, removal of the application fee, starting 1 July, 2020:

(c) This subsection applies after June 30, 2020.The law enforcement agency which accepts an application for a handgun license shall not collect a fee from a person applying for a five (5) year handgun license and shall collect the following application fees: 

(1) From a person applying for a lifetime handgun license who does not currently possess a valid Indiana handgun license,a fifty dollar ($50) application fee, thirty dollars ($30) of which shall be refunded if the license is not issued. 

(2) From a person applying for a lifetime handgun license who currently possesses  a valid Indiana handgun license, a forty dollar ($40) application fee,thirty dollars ($30) of which shall be refunded if the license is not issued.

Second, removal of the fee for the license. There are different fees for qualified and unlimited licenses. I suspect few qualified licenses are issued. The fee for the lifetime license $25 for a qualified license, and $75 for a lifetime unlimited license, with reductions of $5 and $15 if the applicant possesses a current five year license.

(c) This subsection applies after June 30, 2020.In addition to the application fee,the fee for: 

(1) a  qualified license is:

(A) zero dollars ($0) for a five (5) year qualified license; 

(B) twenty-five dollars ($25) for a lifetime qualified license from a person who does not currently possess a valid Indiana handgun license; and 

(C) twenty dollars ($20) for a lifetime qualified license from a person who currently possesses a valid Indiana handgun license; and

(2) an unlimited license is:

(A) zero dollars ($0) for a five (5) year unlimited license; 

(B) seventy-five dollars ($75) for a lifetime unlimited license from a person who does not currently possess a valid Indiana handgun license; and 

(C) sixty dollars ($60) for a lifetime unlimited license from a person who currently possesses a valid Indiana handgun license. The superintendent shall charge a twenty dollar ($20) fee for the issuance of a duplicate license to replace a lost or damaged license.These fees shall be deposited in accordance with subsection (g).

The two fees are added to make up the cost of the permit. The unlimited lifetime permit fees will be $125 total, if the applicant does not have a current permit.

Whenever license fees are reduced or eliminated, the numbers of people who obtain licenses increases. In Indiana, the number of adults with carry permits was nearly 18% a year ago.  It had the second highest percentage of adults with permits in the nation. 

It is likely, now that the fees have been eliminated for five year permits, the number will increase to more than 20%. Virtually all of those people are eligible to vote, and voter registration forms are now handed out with an application for a permit. 

16 states do not require a permit to carry a handgun in most public places, concealed or openly. 

 ©2020 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

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