INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -
A proposal to lift Indiana’s restrictions on alcohol offenders obtaining
handgun licenses would remove one means of protecting victims, an advocate
for domestic violence victims told state lawmakers Wednesday.
The state Senate
Judiciary Committee heard testimony on a bill that would change a law that
prohibits people with certain alcohol-related offenses within three years
from getting a handgun license, which is required to carry the weapons in
public in most circumstances.
Indiana Coalition
Against Domestic Violence lobbyist Kathy Williams told the committee that
most police calls for domestic violence involve alcohol abuse.
“The combination of
alcohol and access to handguns is a lethal combination in situations of
domestic abuse,” she said. “Given the very mild nature of the existing
statute, it is only a small stop gap.”
Republican Sen. Jim
Tomes of Wadesville, who is sponsoring the bill, said federal law prohibits
anyone with felony convictions from obtaining a handgun license, but a
license isn’t required to buy a gun.
Under current state
law, a person is deemed an “alcohol abuser” if they have two or more
alcohol-related offenses, at least one of which resulted in a conviction or
treatment in an alcohol abuse facility within the past three years.
Tomes said he
didn’t believe misdemeanor alcohol cases should bar someone from being
licensed to carry a handgun and that repeated offenses often result in
felony charges, such as a second drunken-driving arrest.
“When I think of
alcohol abuser, I think about some guy who’s a slobbering drunk who beats up
his spouse all the time,” he said. “There are cases where we’re tying up
good people”
The bill also would
prohibit questions about drunken-driving violations on handgun license
applications or in interviews but would leave intact the handgun license
prohibitions on drug offenders.
The committee could
vote next week on whether to advance the proposal to the full Senate.