Efforts are in place to roll back Indiana’s already lax gun restrictions after President Barack Obama expressed executive objectives to curb gun violence, aiming efforts towards gun shows and Internet sales.
Lawmakers in the Indiana General Assembly are also pushing measures intended to expand access to firearms with proposals to get rid of Indiana’s licensing requirement to carry a handgun, allow guns at public universities and state office buildings and make the process easier for repeat alcohol offenders to get a handgun license.
These proposals are drawing concerns from gun control advocates, members in law enforcement and university officials – including some at Ball State.
“Topics on guns, who can carry them and where – especially at a university – it’s really serious,” said Ball State University Police Chief Jim Duckham. “And when it comes to students carrying firearms, I can’t think of any positives.”
Duckham, who cited a 2013 Ball State study on students’ views on university weapon policies, said “it wouldn’t make sense” to compromise campus safety, especially when many students do not advocate for policies allowing concealed weapons.
According to “Student Perceptions and Practices Regarding Carrying Concealed Handguns on University Campuses,” the vast majority of students at 15 Midwestern colleges and universities did not want concealed handguns on their campuses. The study also found that 78 percent of students in the Midwest oppose allowing concealed handguns on campuses and would not obtain a permit to carry one, if it were made legal.
“There’s a lot of detailed training that goes into carrying and firing a weapon for law enforcement officers,” Duckham said. “If students could carry guns on the campus, there’s no telling who the good guy and bad guy are during a shooting or high alert situation. And imagine if someone who had never fired a gun before decided they wanted to be a hero – there’s not telling what could happen or who could get hurt.”
In addition, residence hall policies would also likely have to undergo a number of changes if open-carry was permitted on the campus, Duckham said. Rooms would have to be equipped with gun boxes for students to secure handguns, and resident assistants could be required to check that weapons are properly stored on a regular basis.
Current university and residence hall policies at Ball State do not permit firearms of any sort.
“It would create so many unnecessary fears and risks,” Duckham said. “I’m not a supporter of handguns or firearms being permitted on university campuses – it just wouldn’t make sense.”
But supporters of the Indiana legislator’s proposed bills say the moves are needed to rid state law of unnecessary burdens on those who want to carry weapons.
“It doesn’t make sense to me to make a lawful person jump through hoops and have to pay the state money so they can exercise their constitutionally protected right,” said Indiana Rep. Jim Lucas (R-District 69).
Lucas said the proposals were important because they would make it easier for law-abiding citizens to better protect themselves in places where handguns are currently banned.
But in Muncie, McGalliard Guns and More owner Jeff Burke said he believes current gun laws must be better enforced before new ones — especially those effecting permits and right to carry — can be introduced.
“There’s already about 2,000 gun laws in effect – we should be focusing on those first,” Burke said. “But the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] and the government provide us with a thorough background check that we take very seriously, so we’re doing our part.”
Burke said if customers don’t pass a background check, individuals wouldn’t be able to take the gun with them. And although gun sales from his store aren’t seeing any big fluctuations, he added that he doesn’t have a shortage of interested customers.
“There’s a lot of attention on guns right now, but if people are responsible and take the necessary steps to be informed, it makes things a lot safer and a lot less complicated," he said.
The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office could not confirm or deny a rise in gun-related incidents during the 2015 calendar year, but UPD and Muncie Police records do still have gun related calls or reports that involve firearms. Near Ball State, the most recent reports involving weapons occurred in early October 2015.
According to recent annual reports from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Indiana ranked 14th for numbers of registered firearms as of February 2015, with 100,386 weapons registered.
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