Indiana erased the fees for their five-year handgun licenses beginning July 1, 2020, as a way of ensuring financial restrictions do not prevent people from exercising their Second Amendment rights.
Fox 59 reports the bill to waive the fees was put forward by State Rep. Jim Lucas (R). It takes effect today and means Indiana residents who want the state’s “Unlimited License” can get it with benefit of having no state and local fees.
The “Unlimited License” allows Indiana residents to enjoy reciprocity with 32 other states, which means they can carry a handgun for self-defense in each of those states simply by having the Indiana license.
Rep. Ben Smaltz (R) co-authored the legislation and stressed “removing financial barriers to someone being able to exercise their Second Amendment right is very important.”
Smaltz pointed out other aspects of the new law include recognizing a churches’ prerogative to make their own decisions on whether to allow congregants to be armed for self-defense, versus a statewide statute barring church carry.
Another part of the law puts “civil immunity” in place for Indiana residents who use their guns in a justifiable scenario.
The NRA-ILA praised the dismissal of fees for concealed carry and noted that Reps. Lucas and Smaltz “are both NRA Defender of Freedom award recipients.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.