A synopsis of Indiana state laws on purchase, possession and carrying of firearms.

PURCHASE

It is generally unlawful to sell or otherwise transfer possession of a handgun to a person under 18 except if the gun comes from the juvenile’s parent or guardian. It is unlawful for any person to sell or give a firearm to any person whom he has a reasonable cause to believe has been convicted of a felony, or is a drug abuser or under the influence of a drug, or is an alcohol abuser or in a state of intoxication, or is mentally incompetent.  READ ALL

The regulation of the sale of handguns shall apply equally to the occasional sale, trade, or transfer between individual persons and to retail transactions between dealers and individual persons.

A dealer may not sell, rent, trade, or transfer a handgun to a person until the dealer has complied with the Federal regulations requiring a NICS/background check.

If a buyer or transferee is denied the right to purchase a handgun because of erroneous criminal history information, the buyer or transferee may exercise the right of access to and review and correction of criminal history information.

Exempt from the instant check are law enforcement officers; holders of an Indiana concealed carry license; and transactions between licensed firearms importers, collectors, firearms manufacturers or dealers.  In some instances, a federal instant check is required.

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POSSESSION

No state permit is required for the possession of a rifle, shotgun, or handgun. READ ALL

It is unlawful for an adult to provide a firearm to a child or for a child to possess a firearm except while the child is:

• attending a hunter safety or firearms safety course and an adult is supervising the child during the course;
• target shooting at an established range or in an area where the discharge of a firearm is not prohibited or supervised by a qualified firearms instructor or adult while at the range;
• engaging in an organized firearm competition or practicing for a performance by an organized group that uses firearms as a part of a performance;
• lawfully hunting or trapping with a license;
• traveling with an unloaded firearm to or from an activity described in this section;
• on real property that is under the control of the child’s parent, an adult family member, or legal guardian and has permission from the child’s parent or legal guardian to possess a firearm;
• at the child’s residence and has the permission of the child’s parent, an adult family member or legal guardian to possess a firearm.               

It is unlawful to possess a firearm on school property, property used for a school function, or a school bus.  This prohibition shall not apply to a person who may legally possesses a firearm and possess the firearm in a motor vehicle while transporting another person to or from school or a school function.

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CARRYING

No person shall carry a handgun in any vehicle or on or about his person without a license being in his possession. READ ALL

Exceptions to carrying without a license include:

• carrying in one’s dwelling; on one’s property or fixed place of business;
• law enforcement officers and authorized corrections and judicial officers; military personnel while on duty; regularly enrolled members of any organization authorized to purchase or receive weapons from the U.S. or from Indiana while they are at or going to or from their place of assembly or target practice;
• employees of the U.S. duly authorized to carry handguns; express company employees when engaged in company business;
• persons engaged in the firearms business in the usual or ordinary course of that business;
• or any person while carrying a handgun unloaded and in a secure wrapper from the place of purchase to their home or business or to and from a place of repair or in moving from one place of abode or business to another.
• carrying on an off-road vehicle or snowmobile where: the carrier has a license to carry, is exempted from requiring a license or on private property where the carrier has an actual interest in the property or permission from the actual property owner.

An application for a license to carry a handgun must be made to the chief law enforcement officer of the municipality where the applicant resides, or to the sheriff of the county where the applicant resides or has a regular place of business or employment.  The application contains identifying information on the applicant such as: name, address, length of residence in the community, occupation, age, race, nationality, any criminal record, height and weight, and reason for desiring a license. The officer to whom the application is made shall conduct an investigation into the applicant’s official records and verify his character, reputation, and information contained in the application. The information together with his recommendation and one set of fingerprints are forwarded to the Indiana State Police Superintendent. The superintendent may make whatever further investigation he deems necessary. If it appears to the superintendent that the applicant has a proper reason for carrying a handgun and is of good character and reputation and a “proper person” to be so licensed, he shall issue either a qualified or an unlimited license to carry any handgun lawfully possessed by the applicant. 

Licenses to carry handguns shall be either qualified or unlimited and are valid for 4 years or for the lifetime of the individual receiving the license. Proper reasons for a qualified license are hunting and target practice. Unlimited licenses shall be issued for the purpose of protection of life and property. The superintendent may adopt rules imposing limitations on the use and carrying of handguns by a license holder who carries a handgun as a condition of his employment.

The term “proper person” includes a person:

• who is 18 and has not been convicted of a crime which carries a sentence in excess of 1 year;
• who is not a drug or alcohol abuser, does not have a reputation or propensity for violence or instability;
• who has not made a false statement of material fact on his application;
• does not have a conviction for resisting law enforcement or of violating Indiana’s weapon  laws within 5 years of the application; and
• does not have an adjudication as a delinquent child for an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult if the applicant is less that 23. 

Reputation and propensity may be established without necessarily showing a violation of the law resulting in a conviction.  An arrest for a Class A or Class B felony, or other felony that was committed while armed or involved violence, may be used to deny a license even if there was no conviction, if the court has found probable cause to believe that the person committed the offense.

Every initial application will be granted or rejected within sixty days by the Indiana State Police Superintendent. Renewal of an existing license may be filed 365 days before the expiration of the existing license.  An application for renewal filed within thirty days of expiration automatically extends the existing license until the application for renewal has been decided. If an application for a license to carry has been denied, a request for a hearing before the superintendent may be made. Should the denial be upheld at the hearing, an appeal may be taken to the circuit court.

The application fees consist of separate local and state fees.  The fees for a four-year unlimited (Personal Protection) license is $10 local and $30 state. The fee for a four-year qualified (Hunting and Target) license for hunting and target practice is $10 local and $5 state. A person applying for a lifetime Personal Protection license who does not currently possess a valid license, a $50 local and a $75 state fee is required, $30 of which shall be refunded if the license is not issued.  A person applying for a lifetime Personal Protection license who currently possesses a valid license, a $40 local and $60 state fee is required, $30 of which shall be refunded if the license is not issued. The lifetime Hunting and Target license fees are $50 local and $25 state if the applicant does not have a current valid license.  With a current valid license, the fees are $40 local and $20 state for the lifetime Hunting and Target license.  Honorably retired state and U.S. law enforcement officers with an equivalent 20 years of service or those retired with a disability pay no fees.

The superintendent shall have the authority to suspend at any time any license issued upon having reasonable grounds to believe that the person’s license should be suspended or revoked.

Licenses to carry handguns, issued by other states or foreign countries, will be recognized according to the terms thereof but only while the holders are not residents of Indiana.

With the exceptions of limitations on carrying during game seasons, state law is silent on the issue of carrying rifles and shotguns.

Prohibits a person, including an individual, corporation, and a government entity, from adopting or enforcing a rule that prohibits an employee of the person from legally possessing a firearm or ammunition that is locked in the trunk of an employee’s vehicle while the person’s vehicle is on the person’s property, unless the firearm or ammunition requires a federal license to possess.

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ANTIQUES AND REPLICAS

The chapter of Indiana’s code concerning regulation of handguns does not apply to any firearm not designed to use fixed cartridges or fixed ammunition, or any firearm made in or before 1899. Inoperable handguns cannot be carried as they meet the definition of a handgun.

MACHINE GUNS AND SAWED-OFF SHOTGUNS

The following persons may possess machine guns: members of the armed forces, approved government agencies and law enforcement while on duty; machine guns kept as relics for display that are harmless and unusable; persons possessing or having applied to possess machine guns under applicable U.S. statutes as long as said machine guns are transferred in compliance with Indiana law; and persons engaged in a business that involves machine guns while or when acting within the scope of and in furtherance of such business. READ ALL

It is unlawful to manufacture, import, sell, give, lend, or possess a sawed-off shotgun. This does not apply to law enforcement officers acting in their official duties or persons, who manufacture, import, or sell sawed-off shotguns to law enforcement agencies. 

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PREEMPTION

No unit of government may regulate in any manner the ownership, possession, sale, transfer, or transportation of firearms or ammunition. READ ALL

IND. CODE ANN. §  35-47-11-2. Regulation of ownership, sale, transfer, etc. of firearms or ammunition

 

   Notwithstanding IC 36-1-3, a unit may not regulate in any manner the ownership, possession, sale, transfer, or transportation of firearms (as defined in IC 35-47-1-5) or ammunition except as follows:

   (1) This chapter does not apply to land, buildings, or other real property owned or administered by a unit, except highways (as defined in IC 8-23-1-23) or public highways (as defined in IC 8-2.1-17-14).

   (2) Notwithstanding the limitation in this section, a unit may use the unit's planning and zoning powers under IC 36-7-4 to prohibit the sale of firearms within two hundred (200) feet of a school by a person having a business that did not sell firearms within two hundred (200) feet of a school before April 1, 1994.

   (3) Notwithstanding the limitation in this section, a legislative body of a unit other than a township may adopt an emergency ordinance or a unit other than a township may take other action allowed under section 6 [IC 35-47-11-6] of this chapter to regulate the sale of firearms anywhere within the unit for a period of not more than seventy-two (72) hours after the regulatory action takes effect. 

 

HISTORY: P.L.140-1994, §  13.  

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Range Protection

A person who owns, operates, or uses a shooting range is not liable in any civil or criminal matter relating to noise or noise pollution that results from the normal operation or use of the shooting range if the shooting range complies with a law or an ordinance that applied to the shooting range and its operation at the time of the construction or initial operation of the shooting range, if such a law or ordinance was in existence at the time of the construction or initial operation of the shooting range. READ ALL

14-22-31  5-1  As used in this chapter, "local unit of government" means a county, city, town, or township.
As added by P.L.134-1996, SEC.4.

14-22-31. 5-2  As used in this chapter, "person" means an individual, an association, a business entity, or a governmental entity.
As added by P.L.134-1996, SEC.4.

14-22-31. 5-3 “Shooting range” defined

Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, “shooting range” means an area designed and operated for the use of archery, rifles, shotguns, pistols, muskets, or similar firearms that are fired at silhouettes, skeet, trap, paper, stillboard, or other similar targets

14-22-31.  5-5  Except as specifically prohibited by this chapter, a local unit of government may regulate the location, use, operation, safety, and construction of a shooting range.
As added by P.L.134-1996, SEC.4.

14-22-31. 5-6  A person who owns, operates, or uses a shooting range is not liable in any civil or criminal matter relating to noise or noise pollution that results from the normal operation or use of the shooting range if the shooting range complies with a law or an ordinance that applied to the shooting range and its operation at the time of the construction or initial operation of the shooting range, if such a law or ordinance was in existence at the time of the construction or initial operation of the shooting range.

14-22-31. 5-7  Notwithstanding any ordinance adopted by a local unit of government, a shooting range that is in existence before July 1, 1996, may do the following within the geographic boundaries of the shooting range as it existed on June 30, 1996:
(1) Repair, remodel, or reinforce a building or structure that is needed to ensure public safety or to secure the continued use of the building or structure.
(2) Reconstruct, repair, restore, or resume the use of a nonconforming building that has been damaged by fire, collapse, explosion, act of nature, or war after July 1, 1996. However, the reconstruction, repair, or restoration must be completed not more than one (1) year after the date of the damage to the building or the settlement of the property damage claim. If the reconstruction, repair, or restoration is not completed within one (1) year, the local unit of government may terminate the continuation of the nonconforming use.
(3) Expand or increase the membership of the shooting range or opportunities for public participation at the shooting range.
As added by P.L.134-1996, SEC.4.

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MISCELLANEOUS

Local government may not regulate the ownership, possession, sale, transfer, or transportation of firearms or ammunition. READ ALL

Information submitted by a person to obtain or renew a license to carry a handgun is to be confidential, may not be published, and is not open to public inspection unless the federal, state, or local government entity is in the course of investigation concerning a person who applied to obtain or renew their license to carry a handgun.

No person shall make any loan secured by a mortgage, deposit, or pledge of a handgun.

No person shall change, alter, remove, or obliterate the name of the maker, model, manufacturer’s serial number, or other mark of identification on any handgun, or possess such handgun, except as provided by applicable United States statute.

It is a felony to recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally perform an act creating a substantial risk of bodily injury or to Inflict bodily Injury while armed with a deadly weapon. It is a felony to haze another person while armed with a deadly weapon. It is a felony to riot while armed with a deadly weapon.

It is unlawful to possess, transfer or manufacture handgun ammunition “that has a metal core and an outer coating of plastic.” This does not apply to nylon-coated ammunition, plastic shot capsules, or ammunition designed to be used in rifles or shotguns. Law enforcement officers acting in the course of their official duties or persons who manufacture, import, or sell such ammunition to law enforcement agencies are excepted.

It is unlawful to shoot upon or across a road.

Unless designated as a hunting, firearm sport, or archery area, it is unlawful to discharge a firearm inside a park that falls within the jurisdiction of a county board.

A person shall not operate an “off road vehicle” or a snowmobile while transporting a firearm, unless unloaded and securely encased or equipped with and made inoperative by a key lock trigger housing mechanism.

A student who is in possession of a firearm upon school property must be expelled.

Subject to certain narrow exceptions, no person may bring an action against a firearms or ammunition manufacturer, trade association or seller for recovery of damages, injunctive relief or abatement of nuisance relating to the lawful design, manufacture, marketing or sale of a firearm or ammunition, or for recovery of damages resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm or ammunition by a third party.

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