The 2024 Indiana General Assembly Legislative session has come and gone. While we never get every bill we support through the process, this was a very successful year for Hoosier gun owners.
Last week two very important (and hard-fought) bills were signed into law by Governor Holcomb.
One of these bills was House Bill 1235, Prohibited Causes of Action Concerning Firearms. This bill prohibits political subdivisions from filing nuisance lawsuits against firearms and ammunition manufacturers, dealers, sellers, and trade associations. HB 1235 would also put an end to a 25-year-old lawsuit in which the City of Gary is suing nearly every firearms manufacturer in a civil suit under Indiana’s public nuisance law. This lawsuit was putting the personal information on an estimated 400,000 ATF Form 4473s at risk and had to be stopped.
Another important bill that passed this year was House Bill 1084 Privacy of Firearms Financial Transactions. This bill bans the use of merchant category codes to identify firearms purchases as well banning creating registries of gun owners.
I’ve testified for a lot of bills in the last eight years. I’ve never been more concerned about what I found during my research for testimony, and I’ve never kept finding things that made me more concerned than with this bill.
I’m sure many of you remember the press release from US House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan concerning the use of terms like “MAGA” and “Trump” being used to track purchases using debit and credit cards. That was what made the news. That was the first paragraph of a five-page press release.
Keep an eye out for the Indiana Shooting Sports News. I go into detail on these bills going through the legislative process, as well as those who were there in the committee hearings testifying in support of this vital legislation. There will also be two other bills reviewed that didn’t have the fight involved with 1235 and 1084, but were still wins for Hoosier gun owners.
Kelly Myers
Government Affairs Co-Director
Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association