On Indianapolis This Week, guests discussed the State of the State, President Obama's statement on Indiana's "laxer" gun laws, a bill that would eliminate the requirement for permits to carry guns in Indiana, and civil rights changes.
Gov. Pence's Deputy Chief of Staff, Matt Lloyd, sat down with Indianapolis This Week Host Rafael Sanchez to preview Tuesday's State of the State.
Plus, he addressed President Obama's statement that Indiana's gun laws are part of Chicago's gun violence problem.
Earlier this week at a town hall, Obama said, "Well, the problem is, is that about 30, 40 percent of those guns are coming from Indiana, across the border, where there are much laxer laws. And so folks will go to a gun show and purchase a whole bunch of firearms, put them in a van, drive up into Mike Pfleger’s neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, where his parish is, open up the trunk, and those things are for sale."
.@GovPenceIN office: @POTUS "irresponsible" to blame Indiana for Chicago's crime problems @rtv6 @MatthewLloyd pic.twitter.com/800ktNmcwv
— #IndyThisWeek (@IndyThisWeek) January 9, 2016
PREVIOUS | President Obama: Indiana's gun control laws are "lax" | Indiana blamed for Chicago gun problem |
The statement comes the same week Obama announced a new set of executive actions tightening the country's gun laws. At the top of the list is an effort to expand background checks on gun sales by forcing more sellers to register as federally licensed gun dealers. The changes would be aimed at some unregistered sellers who skirt the background check laws by selling at gun shows, online or informal settings.
MORE | Obama starts 2016 with a fight over gun control
That announcement came as Indiana lawmakers proposed some gun law changes of their own.
Republican Representative Jim Lucas is sponsoring a proposal that would get rid of the state law that requires a permit to carry a handgun. He discussed his proposal with RTV6's Katie Heinz.
“Well I think it’s the good thing to do right now and it’s the right thing to do, especially when you see the issue of guns seems to be center stage, not just in Indiana, but across the country. Based on current Indiana law, as long as you’re not prohibited from carrying a firearm, like a convicted felon or convicted of domestic abuse or battery, you can carry a firearm, and it doesn’t make sense to me that the State of Indiana criminalizes lawful carry right now," he said.
He is also sponsoring a bill that would allow guns on state colleges and universities.
"Lawful people that are left defenseless right now under current gun laws, it doesn’t make sense for me that as long as you’re on one side of the sidewalk you can carry your firearm and protect yourself, you go across that sidewalk and now you’re on university property or campus property, you lose that right," he said.
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And after three decades of service, Senator Pat Miller announced she will retire after this year. What does she want to accomplish in her last year?
“We have a serious problem with our streets and roads, particularly, the state needs to give more money to counties and local governments to fix their streets and roads, and we’re going to do that this year," she said.
Plus, our political insiders discussed the State of the State and civil rights changes.
Watch it all in the video player above, and then watch the State of the State LIVE at 7 p.m., with extended analysis until 9 p.m. in the RTV6 app here: http://www.theindychannel.com/live
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