Indiana lawmakers OK bill allowing adults to have guns in vehicles at school

Senate Bill 229 initially addressed firearm buyback programs, but a proposed amendment in the House allows teachers and parents who have a permit to have guns in their locked vehicles on school property, which includes public, private and charter schools, day care centers and any sporting event at a school.

It does, however, still remain a felony to have a firearm in school buildings or in the open in school parking lots.

Under this amendment, proposed by Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, students will not be able to have guns on school property even if they are 18 and have a permit to carry a weapon.

Banning students from having a gun in their vehicles was a compromise that Lucas said he had to “grudgingly” make. Lucas said he feels students who are 18 and eligible to vote and serve in the Army should be trusted with guns.

One exception is if a student is in a gun club at school, they would be able to have a firearm in their vehicle with written permission from a principal.

A Northwest Indiana student was recently charged with a felony for having a shotgun in his car in the school lot. Ryan Gaddis, 18, was arrested at Morgan Township High School and also had ammunition, a bandolier, a hunting knife, a baton and night-vision goggles in his vehicle, Kouts Police Chief Jim Smith said. Gaddis is in the Porter County Jail.

“This young person’s life could be ruined, and that is a horrible, horrible law to have on the books,” Lucas said.

Current Indiana law leaves the decision about whether to allow guns on school property to the local school board, and the bill would take that away from the board, Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, said.

“All because of a vague fear that armed parents are going to be deprived of the right to carry guns into their school for what purpose I don’t know,” DeLaney said.

House Democratic Floor Leader Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, a former Hammond police officer, said the amendment takes away “the right of local control” from school boards.

“School board members are elected to serve their community, and they have a responsibility to their community and they should make the decisions about where weapons are. If they don’t want them there, they shouldn’t be there,” Lawson said.

Lawson expressed concern about a possible altercation between a parent and a principal about a disciplinary action or a grade given to a child resulting in a shooting if parents can have guns in their vehicles at schools.

“If their gun is at home, they’ll have a cooling-off period,” she said. “... Because you have a license doesn’t mean that you’re really qualified to carry a gun.”

The National Rifle Association released a statement about Senate Bill 229: “We are reminded by headlines that violent crime can and does happen anywhere. It is good public policy for law-abiding people to have a means of defending themselves and their loved ones should the need arise. Our laws should constrain criminals; they should not hold down the lawful.”

The proposed change in the state law also eliminates “roaming school zones,” where a person who is lawfully carrying a gun can be arrested if they are in the same area as a school field trip, Lucas said.

“We’re trying to decriminalize the lawful carrying of firearms,” he said. “These are innocent, peaceful people that have no intent of harming anybody. They just want the ability to defend themselves.”

But Lawson said with school shootings continuing in the nation, guns should be nowhere near school property.

“There have been 44 school shootings since Sandy Hook, and there’s been about a dozen in 2014,” she said.