Thread by @gbosslet

Holy crap

I stayed up to watch the Indiana Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on HB 1077 (which would eliminate permits to open carry guns in Indiana)

It was a study in the damage the Republican Supermajority is doing to democratic debate in Indiana

A quick thread

1/

The meeting lasted 8 hours

@kaitlin_lange does a terrific job covering it for the @indystar and this article is well worth reading

2/

indystar.com/story/news/pol…

There are a few things worth noting- some from the article, and some from my musings

I could not have encapsulated the issue with how the republican supermajority is wrecking public debate and public policy better than Douglas Carter, superintendent of @IndStatePolice

3/

IMO the interesting portion of the meeting came during the amendments discussion

The committee voted down (party lines) an amendment to require a background check for all gun purchases in the state (currently private sale transactions need not include a background check)

4/

Then they voted down (party lines) an amendment to require a carry permit ONLY for age 18-21

This seemed like a reasonable compromise to me

I shook my head in disbelief- to me these votes imply that these lawmakers are more interested in protecting guns than Hoosiers

5/

And then they voted to gut the bill- to keep the permitting process in place but allow for a provisional permit once the application is submitted

So people who need to carry a gun NOW are able to carry a gun NOW

This is the constituency this seems to benefit

6/

These amendment votes demonstrated that those in favor of this bill don't seem to be interested in rational compromise regarding how guns are regulated here

They voted against 2 very reasonable amendments only to then gut the bill

7/

I will reiterate that our current politics are driven as much by the structure of our election system in Indiana as anything else

It is poisoning public policy

https://twitter.com/gbosslet/status/1485585383689760773?s=20&t=udnlLA62gT3HgCxTsN_tyw

The fight over HB 1077- a bill that is widely opposed by a VAST majority (70-80%) of Hoosiers- is not over

The shell of a bill that will go to the floor of the senate could be resurrected with enough machinations

Call your senator

fin/