Thursday, March 13, 2014

The Television Is Still Wrong

     Indiana's state legislature has been debating a bill that would fix a problem: right now, if Mr. or Mrs. Carry-Permit-Holder drops off or picks up the kids at school, the law says the only License To Carry Handgun holder who can be armed is the the one operating the car.  Passengers are not mentioned.  And parking the car, locking up your gun in it?  That's a felony: you are no longer operating the vehicle.

     This is at odds with the law elsewhere in the state, where locking your gun in your car is entirely lawful, even in most otherwise non-permissive environments.

     Between existing law and the proposed bill, it's a little more complex than an outright ban or no restrictions at all, so reporting has been muddled at best.  And the usual whiners, especially the Demanding Mothers, have been making the usual predictions, mostly in ignorance of the reality: people with a valid permit are already driving through armed, while persons disinclined to obey the law are already leaving guns in their cars at schools -- or, upon occasion, carrying them right on in.  Sometimes they get caught, and that makes the news; but what percentage of unlawful carriers are found out, do you suppose?  One in ten?  This law won't change their behavior; all it does is keep a forgetful parent from committing a felony by doing something that's already legal nearly every other place they visit.

4 comments:

Fuzzy Curmudgeon said...

Mention "guns" and a certain portion of the population goes all red-eyed while their IQ drops about 100 points.

Like this idiot.

Robert Fowler said...

1 in 10? I bet it's a lot higher than that. I'd almost bet it's closer to 1 in 50.

rickn8or said...

Well, at least Tennessee seems to have gotten the "Gunz in School Parking Lots!!" ZOMG!! thing straightened out.

However, if you're an adult in your parking lot at work...

This "I can trust you with a gun HERE, but not 30 feet from here" stuff is getting old.

Firehand said...

Change that to Mention "radiation" and you cover the anti-nuclear crowd.

Makes you wonder how much overlap there is.