INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -
Indiana school districts would be able to seek state money to provide gun
training for their teachers under a bill endorsed by a legislative
committee.
The measure that
advanced Monday joins several other Republican-sponsored proposals backed by
guns-rights supporters that are moving forward, while Democrats have
complained about the GOP-dominated Legislature not considering their bills
aimed at tightening gun laws.
The proposals taken
up by Republicans include eliminating fees on five-year handgun licenses and
providing more immunity from lawsuits to people who shoot an attacker under
the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense law.
The bill approved
8-2 Monday by the House Education Committee would let school districts apply
for grants from the state’s school safety fund toward 40-hour training
programs for teachers who volunteer to be armed during school hours. The
panel removed a provision in the measure to repeal the state’s ban on
non-police officers carrying guns on school property without district
permission.
Jay County schools
Superintendent Jeremy Gulley told the committee that the eastern Indiana
district decided last year to allow selected volunteers have access to guns
kept in safes, making it one of only three out of the state’s nearly 300
districts allowing teachers or other non-police employees to be armed.
The Jay County
district took that step because of worries over how long it could take
police officers to reach schools spread out in the rural county in event of
an attack, Gulley said.
School safety has
gained attention around Indiana following shootings last year at a
Noblesville middle school in which a boy wounded a classmate and teacher,
and at a Richmond middle school where a boy shot out a door and at officers
before killing himself.
Several educators
and gun-control advocates urged lawmakers to do more to support mental
health programs rather than encouraging more guns to be carried inside
schools as a way to improve security.
“We have to do
better than to suggest that a school superintendent makes a decision on
should they hire the most qualified math teacher or the math teacher that
will bring a gun into school?” said Indiana State Teachers Association Vice
President Keith Gambill, a middle school teacher in Evansville.
Republicans have
pushed through numerous gun-rights friendly laws in recent years.
This year’s list
includes a proposal extending the state’s current four-year handgun permit
to five years and eliminating the $40 licensing fee. The bill would keep the
current fees of up to $125 for a lifetime permit to carry a handgun in
public, but the shorter-term permit could be used to exempt gun owners from
having to undergo new criminal background checks when buying firearms during
that period.
The Senate rejected
an attempt by Democrats to amend a gun-related bill to include a state ban
on bump stocks, the device used by the gunman in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting
that killed 58 people which allowed his rifles to mimic fully automatic
weaponry. The proposal failed 36-13 with only four Republican senators
joining Democrats in support.
Bills sponsored by
Democrats this session include ones obligating gun owners to keep weapons
secured away from children, requiring background checks for all gun sales
and giving anyone convicted of domestic violence 72 hours to surrender their
firearms.
Democratic Rep.
Ragen Hatcher of Gary said the state should be doing more to assist cities
with the highest levels of gun violence.
“Work with those
communities, in the schools and through the police department,” Hatcher
said. “I think we could really reduce the amount of gun violence in the
state of Indiana.”
Those Democratic
bills aren’t expected to be considered before House and Senate deadlines
next week for measures to clear committees for this year’s session.
Republican Rep. Ben
Smaltz of Auburn, chairman of the Indiana House Public Policy Committee,
said he hasn’t seen any consensus in favor of those proposals among
legislators that merit hearing them.
“One of the most
basic pieces is, ‘Do you have support for this bill?’” Smaltz said. “If you
don’t, it’s hard to move on something like that.”