(INDIANAPOLIS) – Police and prosecutors are getting ready for the end of Indiana’s handgun permit requirement in two-and-a-half weeks.
Indiana will become the 24th state without a permit requirement on July 1. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears says he’s been attending community meetings with police to let people know officers may handle traffic stops differently, because without a database of permitholders, they’ll be in the dark about whether a driver has a gun.
Mears says he’s worried the repeal of the permit requirement will make violence worse. Supporters of the repeal argue criminals don’t care whether they have a permit anyway, and the repeal simply removes a hurdle for law-abiding citizens. Mears says eliminating the requirement may itself cause violence. He predicts it’ll “heighten the tension” any time there’s an argument, because people will be more likely to assume the other person has a gun, and thus more likely to reach for their own.
And Mears says police have reported seeing more “Glock switches,” a device which illegally turns a semiautomatic handgun into an automatic. Mears says the switches used to be rare in Indianapolis, but says police confiscated eight in a recent two-week period. If officers don’t know up front you have a gun permit, Mears says they won’t be able to spot Glock switches either.
