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The repeal of gun-license requirements by the Indiana State Legislature took effect Friday.
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The repeal makes it more difficult to screen for dangerous individuals with weapons, police say.
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The law’s exceptions include individuals with crimes or restraining orders against them.
Indiana has repealed a law requiring small arms owners to carry a license — and police say it will make their job harder by removing checks on those who commit crimes with guns.
House Bill 1077 was passed by the state legislature in March, went into effect Friday, and allows people over 18 to carry a gun without a license. The exceptions to the law include individuals with crimes, restraining orders against them, or any mental illness that makes them dangerous, the Associated Press reported†
Police advocates told the AP that permits helped screen for dangerous individuals with weapons.
“We still have a few more steps to go through in order to conduct a criminal investigation,” state police spokesman Captain Ron Galaviz told the AP. “We won’t necessarily be able to do it there on the side of the road.”
Scott County Sheriff Jerry Goodin told: WDRB the law would scare people in public.
“A guy can stand there — or a girl, or whoever with a rifle, an AR-15, or a pistol — and stand there on a sidewalk facing the school,” Goodin told WDRB. “The difference is this: we can’t even stop and ask what they’re doing because of this law.”
Conservatives across the country have renewed their focus on laws protecting the right to bear arms. Some laws, such as: The Louisiana and Ohio Accounts to enable teachers to carry weapons were proposed and adopted in the wake of the Robb primary school and TOPS shootings in supermarkets in May.
Conversely, the shootings pushed lawmakers in Congress to pass more federal gun restrictions† The restrictions include an end to the “friend loophole”, red flag laws that allow authorities to take guns from those deemed a threat to the public, and improved background checks for those under 21 who want to buy a gun.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court to rule Thursday that the United States Constitution protected the right to bear arms outdoors. The law repealed a law in New York state that required individuals who registered to carry weapons outside their homes to give a good reason for doing so.
Indiana State Police did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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