Racial equity is on the docket in state capitols this year.
It’s been eight months since Minneapolis police killed George Floyd. Millions marched to declare Black lives matter and demand changes to police accountability, tactics and biases.
This anti-racist movement, built over decades, has seeped into state capitols nationwide and promises to bring significant changes to housing, health care access and policing policy in the first full legislative session since that pivotal summer.
“It’s the right time. It’s way past the right time,” said Washington state Sen. Manka Dhingra, a Democrat. She introduced three police accountability bills this session, including one that would require officers to intervene if they see wrongdoing by peers.
Paul Helmke, former president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, agreed.
“Indiana already does too little to keep loaded guns out of public places and out of the hands of dangerous people. This bill would make us all less safe,” the former Republican mayor wrote in an email.
No license is required to buy a firearm in Indiana, but one is required for open or concealed carry. Individuals with a conviction for a felony or misdemeanor domestic battery are ineligible, and a license can also be denied in other prescribed situations.
HB 1396 is one of four so-called “constitutional carry” bills proposed by the Republican supermajority, but this one is authored by Auburn Republican Ben Smaltz and co-authored by Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne, two powerful members of the House majority. Smaltz is chairman of the House Public Policy Committee, where his bill is assigned and was scheduled to be heard Wednesday. Ironically, the session was canceled over concerns for violence sp
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