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Saturday, December 09, 2006

Ind. Gov't. - "Visiting Statehouse? Keep the heat at home"

"Visiting Statehouse? Keep the heat at home: Weapons restriction to start next year, but not for legislators, judges" is the headline to a story today in the NWI Times, by Patrick Guinane. Some quotes:

INDIANAPOLIS | The right to bear arms soon will stop at the Capitol steps, but not for those who make the laws.

The state is getting ready to purchase metal detectors and x-ray baggage scanners that will be installed at Statehouse entrances in Indianapolis early next year. And new rules, which drew no opposition at a public hearing Friday, will prohibit visitors from bringing knives, stun guns and firearms into the Capitol, adjoining Government Center offices and nearby parking garages.

But the new policy won't apply to police officers, judges or members of the General Assembly who hold licenses to carry concealed weapons, including state Sen. Vic Heinold, R-Kouts.

"I've never carried it into the building myself," he said. "I know others do. I have never felt the need."

Three years ago, a Fort Wayne newspaper reported that 25 of the Indiana's 150 state legislators held concealed weapons permits.

"Basically I got it just strictly for traveling purposes because I'm out on the road a lot late at a night and a little more identifiable in my role (as a legislator)," said Heinold, the only Northwest Indiana legislator with a concealed carry permit.

Secretary of State Todd Rokita has had a concealed handgun permit for years, but the Munster native said he doesn't bring his .40-caliber Smith & Wesson to work. Still, the Republican, who was elected to a second term last month, said he's disappointed that Indiana is moving ahead with the stricter Statehouse security measures.

While the new measures will allow legislators with permits to carry concealed firearms in the Statehouse, statewide office holders like Rokita will not be allowed to do so.

"It seems that ever since 9-11, we have changed the way we live, at least in terms of access to our public places," Rokita said. "And that's unfortunate, because when you change the American way of life, you let the wrongdoers win."

State employees have been issued electronic ID badges that give them access to the Capitol after hours and on weekends. The metal detectors and the rules against guns will be implemented in February or March, said Kevin Ober, deputy commissioner for the Indiana Department of Administration, the state agency that oversees the Statehouse and surrounding properties.

Not a single opponent, he said, showed up Friday at the Indianapolis hearing on the new rules, which still must be signed by the attorney general and Gov. Mitch Daniels.

First off, how many people even knew about the hearing? With the changes to what had been the Indiana Register put in place by the legislature, it is nearly impossible now for the general public, or even experts on rulemaking, to have any idea about what is going on. (More about this in entries next week.)

Niki Kelly of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette had a lengthy story on what was then a proposal to increase statehouse security, last Sept. 7th. This line particularly caught my eye at the time: "Tunnel access between the buildings would also be shut off to the public, according to the recommendation." See also this entry from Sept. 9th, dealing with legislators carrying guns.

As for judges carrying guns, The National Law Journal had a long article on the subject last week. Dated Dec. 7th, the story by Amanda Bronstad concludes:

On Jan. 1, Kansas plans to permit judges and whomever they designate to carry concealed firearms in the courtroom. Phillip Journey, the state senator who authored the bill and a practicing attorney, said he spent a decade seeking to overturn a blanket prohibition on firearms in the courthouse.

"If I had a judge's permission, I'd do it every day," he said of bringing a gun into the courtroom. "Guns are like lawyers: Better to have one and not need it than need one and not have it."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 9, 2006 11:41 AM
Posted to Courts in general | Indiana Government