Indiana Bill would ban most guns and ammunition (possession a felony!)

Indiana legislative website ^ | 01/07/2003 | Representative V. Smith

[Atlas Sneezed]

HOUSE BILL No. 1011

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    A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning criminal law and procedure.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:

SOURCE: IC 35-47-1-2.5; (03)IN1011.1.1. -->     SECTION 1. IC 35-47-1-2.5 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE AS A NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2003]: Sec. 2.5. "Automatic weapon" or "semiautomatic weapon" means a weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot automatically more than one (1) shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.

SOURCE: IC 35-47-5-8; (03)IN1011.1.2. -->     SECTION 2. IC 35-47-5-8 AS AMENDED BY P.L.123-2002, SECTION 43, IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2003]: Sec. 8. A person who owns or possesses knowingly or intentionally:
         (1) manufactures;
        (2) imports into Indiana;
        (3) sells;
        (4) purchases;
        (5) possesses; or
        (6) transfers possession of;
a machine gun, an automatic weapon, a semiautomatic weapon, or

ammunition for any of those weapons commits a Class C felony.

SOURCE: IC 35-50-2-13; (03)IN1011.1.3. -->     SECTION 3. IC 35-50-2-13 IS AMENDED TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2003]: Sec. 13. (a) The state may seek, on a page separate from the rest of a charging instrument, to have a person who allegedly committed an offense of dealing in a controlled substance under IC 35-48-4-1 through IC 35-48-4-4 sentenced to an additional fixed term of imprisonment if the state can show beyond a reasonable doubt that the person knowingly or intentionally:
        (1) used a firearm; or
        (2) possessed: a:
            (A) a handgun in violation of IC 35-47-2-1 ;
            (B) a sawed-off shotgun in violation of IC 35-47-5-4.1 ; or
            (C) a machine gun, an automatic weapon, or a semiautomatic weapon in violation of IC 35-47-5-8 ;
while committing the offense.
    (b) If after a sentencing hearing a court finds that a person committed an offense as described in subsection (a), the court may sentence the person to an additional fixed term of imprisonment of not more than five (5) years, except as follows:
        (1) If the firearm is a sawed-off shotgun, the court may sentence the person to an additional fixed term of imprisonment of not more than ten (10) years.
        (2) If the firearm is a machine gun or is equipped with a firearm silencer or firearm muffler, the court may sentence the person to an additional fixed term of imprisonment of not more than twenty (20) years. The additional sentence under this subdivision is in addition to any additional sentence imposed under section 11 of this chapter for use of a firearm in the commission of an offense.

SOURCE: ; (03)IN1011.1.4. -->     SECTION 4. [EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2003] IC 35-47-5-8 , as amended by this act, applies to offenses committed after June 30, 2003.

[Atlas Sneezed]

This would ban not only your AR-15, but your auto-loading shotguns, hunting rifles, many 22 rifles, most pistols, even revolvers, and ALL the ammo they used. The only permitted guns would be bolt actions, lever actions, and single-shots. And essentially all ammo would be illegal, unless anyone can come up with some types of ammo that are not used in auto-loading guns.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Bang

[trebb]

Hoosier big brother???

[dirtboy]

Indiana Bill would ban most guns and ammunition

Indiana Bill raises $2 million for NRA while dying in committee...

[Diamond]

"No ones life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session."

Cordially,

[bigfootbob]

Who the hell is V. Smith?

[Travis McGee]

Here we go! A foretaste of the book's plot.

[dirtboy]

Who the hell is V. Smith?

That was my thought. I'm not from Indiana, but I figured he had to be a Dem Rep from Gary. He is.

[joesnuffy]

Our Gov Doyle (as Atty General) and one of his puppet cronies tried this in Wi. a year or so ago...
It died...
Unfortunately........... the sponsers have gone on to even more powerfull positions

[Equality 7-2521]

From the article: Sec. 2.5. "Automatic weapon" or "semiautomatic weapon" means a weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot automatically more than one (1) shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.

The Indiana legislators don't even recognize a difference between automatic and semi-autos. As long as this definition remains in the legislation, it won't criminalize true semi-autos, the problem is that in the future this definition could mysteriously vanish and the common definition of semi-autos would replace it.

[pgyanke]

What part of "...shall not be infringed" do they not understand?

[KarlInOhio]

Is this bill being seriously considered, or is Vernon Smith just an anti-gun kook in the legislature doing his Don Quixote impression which will quickly be voted down?

[ChromeDome]

I live in Indiana and there hasn't been any news coverage of this yet (which isn't all that surprising). I doubt this will go far as we like are guns, and the legislators know this.

Not to be picky, but I'm not sure the way the proposed law as worded would result in making semi-autos (by common definition) illegal. The proposed modification says "...means a weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot automatically more than one (1) shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger." That seems to change the definition of "semi-auto" to mean a weapon with at least burst capability (shoot automatically more than one shot with a single trigger pull).

Regards

[dirtboy]

Looks like the author was trying to craft a "Scary-Looking Gun" ban and couldn't get the language straight...

[NYFriend]

I'm not saying this is a good bill or a bad one, but it will not make semi-automatic guns illegal. The text on the bill says that it will provide for a sentencing enhancement for a person is convicted of dealing drugs, if they possessed a handgun or semiautomatic weapon in violation of current Indiana Law.

[BSunday]

Indiana new proposed state motto: Bring me your tired, your poor, your unarmed peasants

[bigfootbob]

I am an ex-Hoosier. Gary has always been anti-Indiana to the rest of the State. Gary needs to be redistricted into Illinois or better yet, the People's Dominion of Canadastan!

[dirtboy]

I have to disagree:

"...means a weapon that shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot automatically more than one (1) shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger."

The key word is OR here. If it were replaced with AND, you would be correct. Either this Gary rep is stupid, or he's trying to sneak a gun ban into place with unclear language...

[dirtboy]

The text on the bill says that it will provide for a sentencing enhancement for a person is convicted of dealing drugs, if they possessed a handgun or semiautomatic weapon in violation of current Indiana Law.

Good catch.