(Indiana page update) School,et al; defined

There has been some questions if an institution of higher education, qualifies as a school within Indiana.

The following codifications in state law, defines by inclusion, and for that matter, exclusion.

School property (as defined in IC 35-41-1-24.7)
School bus (as defined in IC 20-27-2-8), furthermore, this is also defined by
A special purpose bus (as defined in IC 20-27-2-10)

All uses of school around those paragraphs of Indiana Code are exclusively in reference to children, as in school children, foster children, child care, etc. There is absolutely nothing to indicate that those prohibitions were ever meant to apply to schools as in colleges, universities, post-secondary schools, etc. The only thing those places have to hold over anybody WRT carrying a firearm is the same as the mall or any other place of business or private property. "It's against our written policy, please leave, and if you're a student, you're expelled, and if you're an employee, you're fired, and if you don't leave immediately, we'll call the real police and have you arrested for trespassing." Anyone attempting to use some form of gun-free school law against you will have it laughed out of court.

It's another legal question whether a publicly supported post-secondary school has the authority to enforce such policies. I'd be delighted if Indiana adopted a law/constitutional interpretation like Utah and all such anti-gun policies at Colleges and universities were rendered null and void. If anyone has a citation for Indiana State Supreme Court cases that approaches this issue, I'd love to read them.

I am not a lawyer, and this is not to be construed as legal advice.

IIRC (and I will have to try to find the code for it) but in IN, there is no state statute that prohibits weapons on a college campus, it is a decision left to the school management to decide (and the vast majority prohibit weapons in some way).

Gonna have to try to look that up though...


Hmm..

The only thing I could find was this
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and it just says "School" as previously mentioned.

Lookee what I just found after being directed there from the Students for Concealed Carry on Campus - ConcealedCampus.org website:

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That kinda puts a stake in the heart of the idea that colleges and universities, etc. are out of bounds on a federal basis, if the example of Utah didn't do so. And, if it passes, you can debate about what the meaning of the word "school" is until the cows come home. With that single, simple sentence enshrined into Indiana code, "A state educational institution may not regulate in any manner the ownership, possession, carrying, or transportation of firearms or ammunition.", the debate will be over.

I guess one can argue over what the meaning of "state educational institution" is.

We definitely want to get writing to our state Senators about this one. It was introduced by Sen. Nugent (sadly named Johnny, not Ted, cause how cool would that be?), R-43, from . Sadly, last year's SB. 66, prohibitting employers from prohibitting you from exercising your RKBA on your way to or from work went to the Committee on the Judiciary to die. SB.12 currently has 12 coauthors:

Jim Buck (R-21), Mike Delph (R-29), Brandt Hershmann (R-7), Dennis Kruse (R-14), Sue Landske (R-6), Jean Leising (R-42), Brent Steele (R-44), Marlin Stutzman (R-13), Greg Walker (R-41), Brent Waltz (R-36), John W. Waterman (R-39), and Michael Young (R-35)

that's 26% of the Indiana Senate right there. 12 more Senators and passage out of the Senate is assured and we can worry about how it would fare the House.

If your State Senator is on that list, please send them a letter thanking them for their support of your RKBA. If your senator is not on that list, please sent them a letter asking them for their support. If you don't know who your legislative (State or Federal) representation is, and you live in Indiana, go here Link Removed to find out. I'm personally going to give Tim Skinner (D-38) a piece of my mind on behalf of all RHIT, ISU, and SMWC students myself. Someone else might want to rattle Vi Simpson's (D-40) cage about it on behalf of IU students.

Here's a copy of the message I sent to Skinner: (replace the italicized portions to suit your Senator and yourself)

I would like to bring to your attention the existence of SB. 12 regarding possession of firearms at state universities. As a representative of the district which encompasses RHIT, ISU, and SMWC, your position on this vital bill is of the utmost value. As a resident of your district, and an alumna of ISU and IU, I urge you to sign on as a coauthor of this bill which simply seeks to harmonize the regulations regarding the legal carrying of firearms while on college campuses with the same modes of carry off-campus by individuals who have already been vetted by the State of Indiana for criminal background and mental health issues and been found to be in possession of none.

When students so licensed to carry a personal protection sidearm in public leave their homes to go to class, they are legal, yet university after university passes student codes of conduct and school policies which seek to prohibit them from carrying their legally owned and possessed sidearms on campus under penalty of expulsion from the institution. This terrorism upon licensed gun carriers must stop.

In this day and age where gun-free victim zones are more and more being targetted by people with a motive for mayhem, the students, faculty, and visitors to our state's institutions of higher learning can no longer be expected to stand idly by nor should they consent to be disarmed.

These school rules against licensed gun owners do nothing to keep illegal guns off our college campuses. They only serve to keep the legal guns at home, or locked in cars parked on the street.

Please help to pass SB. 12.

Thank you.

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I thought it was just me that thought gun free zones were nothing more than target practice for idiots who want to "make someone pay". finally somebody else realizes it

Sort of as an oddity I can't help but mention, I went here Link Removed and picked up a copy of the Indiana State Senate district map and mapped out the districts of SB. 12's coauthors. They form an interesting shape. It's sort of an upside-down question mark with its dot knocked askew.

Contiguously, from the north west, we have 6, 7, 21, then we encounter the west side of Indy, 29, 35, 36, then across the south, 41, 42, 43, 44, 39. The dot is the north east corner of the state with 13 and 14. If SB. 12 were a game of Risk, we'd have the state split neatly into three isolated pockets of resistance to the RKBA.

Here's the responce I just got back from Sen. Tim Skinner's office:

Ms. Garrett:

Thank you for taking the time to write to State Senator Tim Skinner. I
am responding to your email on his behalf.

Senate Bill 12 was assigned to the Senate Committee on Judiciary, which
Senator Skinner is not a member. The bill did not receive a hearing in
committee, and did not advance to the full Senate for debate and
consideration. The last day for Senate Bills to have passed out of the
Senate was February 25, 2009. Since this bill did not advance it cannot
pass during this session of the Indiana General Assembly.

You can view this bill and all legislation introduced during this
session by visiting the website below:
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If you have any further questions or comments do not hesitate to contact
me.

Take care,

Brent Stinson
Legislative Assistant
Senator Tim Skinner

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Does that make any sense? A brand new bill is too late to be considered in this session of the GA?

CathyInBlue said:

Here's the responce I just got back from Sen. Tim Skinner's office:

Does that make any sense? A brand new bill is too late to be considered in this session of the GA?

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Id say that makes perfect sense coming from a government official.

" The bill did not receive a hearing in committee, and did not advance to the full Senate for debate and consideration."
This implies it either was not selected for review by the committee who's job it was to approve or deny it, or it was buried behind things they considered more important. They would have had to push it forward to the full group for review and a vote, but it never made it that far. Died in committee. Please try again next session. Sucks but that's the way it works.