Indiana Firearms Law

[Bill of Rights]

A large portion of Indiana's state law regarding firearms is located in IC Title 35, Article 47. This can be found, not surprisingly, at http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title35/ar47/ in full.

The primary points of interest are as follows:

An unlimited license to carry (LTC) is available to "proper person"s on a SHALL ISSUE basis from the Indiana State Police, as applied for through the local chief of police or county sheriff at your residence or place of business. That is, the person in charge of whoever responds if you call 911 on a law-enforcement matter is the person to whom you apply. If you apply for the four year license, your fee will be $40, vs. a lifetime license, $100 if you already hold a valid IN LTC, $125 if you do not. They're supposed to have the LTC to you within 60 days of date of application, however they were running far behind with the demand for lifetime LTCs even as much as a year after that went into effect.
Note that LEOs and state-licensed dealers do not pay any fees for a LTC.

Places prohibited to carry, even if you hold a LTC:

Head Start, Preschool, in or on school (k-12) property, private school, on a school bus, in or on property being used by a school for a school function. Note that if you have a LTC and are transporting someone to or from school, remain in your vehicle, and happen to be armed, you are violating no law.
In the controlled-access or sterile areas of an airport or on an aircraft, or on a riverboat casino, save that if the latter, they must provide you a safe place to secure your weapon.
In a shipping port, controlled by the Indiana Port Commission.
During State Fair, at that location, any firearm must be locked in your vehicle.

Some have said in the past that a good place to call for information regarding concealed carry is the state Attorney General's office. I've not found this to be the case, as any time I've contacted them, they refer me to the State Police. As such, I'll just refer people there directly.

Indiana State Police
Main number (317) 232-8200
Firearms Licensing Section (317) 233-5054
Or on the web at http://www.in.gov/isp and
http://www.in.gov/isp/files/FirearmsFAQ.pdf
As always, to all

Blessings,
M

[Bill of Rights]

An additional point to add: Indiana has a "License To Carry", and does not specify OC or CC. Thus, either way, you must, to carry legally, be issued a LTC.

I disagree with that regulation as well as many of the prohibited places on the list. I don't believe it's right to punish what someone might do, only what they actually do (or do not, ie negligence).

I believe the evidence I've seen that more guns in the hands of peaceable, (mostly) law abiding citizens means less crime, partly because the crimes will be stopped if attempted and more because criminals don't want to risk getting hurt or killed by a person who is righteously angry with them for attempting to take from them or their family any valuable property, their security, their dignity, their honor, their liberty, or their lives.

With this in mind, I do not see any reason at all why those who may legally own a gun (or a knife or a baseball bat or a roll of quarters) cannot carry that owned item in a lawful manner, open or concealed, in any place they may lawfully be. Genghis made the point several days ago about working at a plant where the fuel for the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters are made, and how guns or anything that can make a spark is forbidden. I would ask, however, if in such a place, where a myriad of electrical connections occur in the enormous variety of machines they must have there, such things as a roll of coins, a row of staples, or a syringe full of water would likewise be forbidden?

We have the expectation of "feeling secure/safe" in our daily lives and activities. We have the right to ensure that safety. We have the responsibility to not endanger others. So why is it that so many in our society have abdicated the above right, given government the expectation, and in it's usual form, it has ignored the above responsibility and totally failed to produce the safety with which it has been wrongly entrusted.

I've recently been cautioned on here that my so-called extreme views are too much so, that all I'll successfully do is drive "fence sitters" away. The trouble is that while my views are, to some, extreme, to others they are not nearly radical enough. That which I oppose has taken the extreme steps, proposing and promoting citizen helplessness in the face of adversity and threat. I'm reminded of the scene from V For Vendetta when the Prime Minister loudly orders oppression of his citizens in order to remind them "WHY THEY NEED US!" (If you've not seen that movie, I highly recommend it.) When the forces of liberalism took the steps they took to endanger my and indeed, all of our freedoms, I and others have defended and countered. If our actions are seen as "too radical", perhaps those who see them so should look in the mirror to see the cause.

Radical? Extreme? Perhaps, but my actions and proposed views are all within the law and are in no way treasonous, which is more than I can say for many of our political figures. Too, it is only by treasonous activity that we have a nation at all. If not for the "treason" of our founders, such words as "give me liberty or give me death!" and the venerable, "...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..."

Our government became destructive to the above ends a long, long time ago. Still, however, I do not favor abolishing it, but I do favor correcting those errors. I favor this and fight for that goal from within the system.

Sadly, I believe that on here, I'm "preaching to the choir". Most of us are in full agreement that there are things wrong in our country. That doesn't mean we scrap it, it means we work to fix it.

I'm not sure why I wrote all this. Maybe I'm hoping someone else will be stirred to action, too.

Blessings,
M

[Lady Di]

St. Michael,

Why did you write all that? If I may be so bold as to attempt to answer that question for you, I'll say that you wrote it because your convictions drove you to it, and I thank God that there are men like you in our country. Don't ever let anyone convince you that your views are too extreme. Others who were given that same label penned the very Constitution that gives us our RKBA, and their views were probably much more extreme in their day than yours is in ours. If our views seem extreme, it's only because our country has shifted too far from her roots. Keep up the good work, St. Michael. You're a good and faithful soldier, and I'm proud to be in the same army. :D

[Lady Di]

"Lay down true principles, and adhere to them inflexibly. Do not be frightened into their surrender." --Thomas Jefferson-1816

[Stubob]

This is what makes America Great! We can talk about our issues. If we do not rally the troops and talk about our rights, the others will rally. Between Hollywood and the media alone we have our work cut out for us.

thanks for your postings.

[Bill of Rights]

Thank you both. It's difficult sometimes when I see divisiveness within what I consider "our own ranks"; that is, when someone who is ostensibly pro-2A, pro-CCW, pro-freedom, but whose thoughts, statements, and comments are anything but the above. I'm not sure how to get across to people who are "on our side" but who favor "reasonable restrictions" the thought I've seen quoted as "When you sit down to negotiate something you already have, you've already lost."

What we had and would still have if not for negotiation and appeasement is the unadulterated 2A which we all know by heart:

"A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." (emphasis mine)

Shall not be infringed has no exceptions written in nor "understood". No permits, no "gun free zones", no training requirements, no age limits.

"But surely you're not saying that the insane, the children, and the criminals should be allowed to have guns!", I can hear the shrieks now. "Surely you don't mean that people should carry guns without training!? Into SCHOOLS!!??"

See... our Founders had something called "common sense" and something else called "personal responsibility". In conjunction, these work together to say that the insane and the criminals should not be among society until such time as they can safely do so without having their rights restricted (especially by people who have no authority to do so!) From the same source comes the rationale that absolutely children should be allowed to have guns with responsible adult supervision until such time as they can show that they have the necessary responsibility to exercise self-restraint and good judgment, their training coming from those responsible adults. As for schools, anyone who's read my postings knows that I favor the ability of those we entrust with our children's futures and well-being being able to defend them effectively, as well as the ability of their parents or indeed, any responsible adult, being able to come and go from schools without hindrance from idiotic laws that are "for their safety".

"Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child." is a quote I've heard, and my cursory search for the author revealed only "anonymous" or "author unknown". The world is not a safe place. It cannot be made so. Our children need to know this and be prepared to deal with what situations their lives may bring their way. They need to know that submission to so-called "authority" without thought is a mistake that can cost them their freedom and possibly their lives.

Our Founders fought and their contemporaries died to ensure that that lesson would not be forgotten. How ashamed of us they would be.

Blessings,
M

[Lady Di]

"Posterity! You will never know how much it cost the present generation to preserve your freedom! I hope you will make good use of it! If you do not, I shall repent it in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it!" --John Quincy Adams

I wonder if Adams has repented yet. :cry:

[VegasGeorge]

Lady Di,

I have it on good authority that Adams was going to repent, but then he saw this Forum, and read this thread, and decided to wait.

VegasGeorge

[Lady Di]

VegasGeorge,

That was VERY good! You rock!! :D

[junglebob]

A large portion of Indiana's state law regarding firearms is located in IC Title 35, Article 47. This can be found, not surprisingly, at http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title35/ar47/ in full.

The primary points of interest are as follows:

An unlimited license to carry (LTC) is available to "proper person"s on a SHALL ISSUE basis from the Indiana State Police, as applied for through the local chief of police or county sheriff at your residence or place of business. That is, the person in charge of whoever responds if you call 911 on a law-enforcement matter is the person to whom you apply. If you apply for the four year license, your fee will be $40, vs. a lifetime license, $100 if you already hold a valid IN LTC, $125 if you do not. They're supposed to have the LTC to you within 60 days of date of application, however they were running far behind with the demand for lifetime LTCs even as much as a year after that went into effect.
Note that LEOs and state-licensed dealers do not pay any fees for a LTC.

Places prohibited to carry, even if you hold a LTC:

Head Start, Preschool, in or on school (k-12) property, private school, on a school bus, in or on property being used by a school for a school function. Note that if you have a LTC and are transporting someone to or from school, remain in your vehicle, and happen to be armed, you are violating no law.
In the controlled-access or sterile areas of an airport or on an aircraft, or on a riverboat casino, save that if the latter, they must provide you a safe place to secure your weapon.
In a shipping port, controlled by the Indiana Port Commission.
During State Fair, at that location, any firearm must be locked in your vehicle.

Some have said in the past that a good place to call for information regarding concealed carry is the state Attorney General's office. I've not found this to be the case, as any time I've contacted them, they refer me to the State Police. As such, I'll just refer people there directly.

Indiana State Police
Main number (317) 232-8200
Firearms Licensing Section (317) 233-5054
Or on the web at http://www.in.gov/isp and
http://www.in.gov/isp/files/FirearmsFAQ.pdf
As always, to all

Blessings,
M
I take it from reading the above that a person who owned a private school would not be able to carry there even with a permit. This seems to take away a right that other business owners have, even here in "right denied Illinois." What if a person homeschooled their own children and then took in a friends child to teach, would this make them a school and unable to have firearms in their home? I do hope people who home school their own children are exempt from the school designation.

[Bill of Rights]

I take it from reading the above that a person who owned a private school would not be able to carry there even with a permit. This seems to take away a right that other business owners have, even here in "right denied Illinois." What if a person homeschooled their own children and then took in a friends child to teach, would this make them a school and unable to have firearms in their home? I do hope people who home school their own children are exempt from the school designation.
Hi Junglebob, and thanks for writing!
I don't know of any private schools that are owned by a single person, so I don't know that that fully compares, but I see your question. It would likely be what's called a "case of first impression", meaning that the court ruling would set precedent, at least in that court (thanks VegasGeorge for that distinction)
As to the second part of your question, people who homeschool their children (at least here in IN), are already considered "schools" by the state, and register as such, even when the only students are in the family. I know that despite the law that a gun cannot be carried on an airplane, I don't think there is any restriction on a pilot carrying his weapon onto his own plane, so that might be the precedent they would follow in answering. Too, if I recall, even in the Federal GFSZA, a person living less than 1000 yards from a school, carrying his weapon out of his house and to his car may do so if the gun is unloaded. Obviously, the right of property and ownership of the home is seen as pre-empting the GFSZA, if I'm remembering correctly.

Note that standard IANAL and TINLA disclaimers apply.

Blessings,
M

[Lady Di]

I homeschooled my children for many years in Indiana without registering with the state. If it is a law, it is not well enforced as I know hundreds of Indiana homeschooling families who never have contact with the state. In fact, I would recommend NOT registering with the state. The less the state knows, the better, IMHO. Indiana is one of the friendliest states in the country when it comes to homeschooling as there is a well-organized homeschool lobby here. I've homeschooled other children and they were well-protected in my home where we practice the RKBA on a daily basis. :D

[Bill of Rights]

Lady Di,
I don't know how well-enforced it is, but in no way do I disagree with you about telling the state as little as possible. I recalled speaking with a guy I used to work with who, with his wife, homeschool all 5 of their kids that are of school age (they have a toddler also). He told me that they registered and the name of their school was his last name with the addition of the word "Academy". (he mentioned them being in a co-op group to help them out as well.)

Curiosity: Did/do the children in the Lady Di Academy learn firearm safety as part of the lesson plan? (I know your kids did anyway, but you referred to others as well.)

Blessings,
M

[Lady Di]

None of the outside kids in Di's Academy ever saw the guns in my house, but knowing their parents, I'm sure they were all saavy to gun safety, etc... :lol:

[junglebob]

St. Michael, My pastors father-in-law has a private school in Virginia where he takes students outside his family and charges tuition. Even if there are few private schools that are owned and operated by individuals, the firearm prohibition is just one more roadblock to operating one. This would especially be the case for operating one out of your home if you are a gun owner.

I realize that most states may have an exemption for home schools but even if 99% of private schools are not privately owned why the "one size fits all" prohibiton on firearms in schools. When the first school attack comes here, like in Israel before teachers were allowed and encouraged to be armed, that private school that has some armed teachers could see enrollment skyrocket. Of course we probably won't learn as fast here as in Israel if the Virginia Tech Massacre is any indication.

[Bill of Rights]

I'm with you, Junglebob. I think "shall not be infringed" means exactly what it says.

Cogito, ergo porto.

Blessings,
M

[junglebob]

Someone asked on another forum if you are required to notify law enforcement you are carrying if stopped? I went to the ISP site link above, it wasn't on FAQ. Someone on another forum asked.

[Bill of Rights]

In Indiana, you are required to show your LTC/CCW/whatever when asked to do so by a LEO. If they don't ask, I'm not volunteering.

Blessings,
B

[Kovernm]

Thank you Bill of Rights. I am traveling to Indiana to my sister inlaws and needed to know the laws down there. I sent thirty minuites trying to find the laws on the In.gov site and got nothing but retired law officers. So thank you for posting this information, the links, and the contact numbers, you just saved me alot of time.

[Bear Poop]

Say have you given thought to running for office? We need someone with a grounding in the ideals of the Founding Fathers. Maybe later you and Mike Pence could make a run for the WH