IN: State Firearms Laws
INDIANA
(As of August, 1995)
PLEASE NOTE: In addition to state laws, the purchase, sale
and (in certain circumstances) the possession and interstate
transportation of firearms is regulated by the Gun Control
Act of 1968 as amended by the Firearms Owners' Protection
Act. Also, cities and localities may have their own firearms
ordinances in addition to federal and state laws. Details
may be obtained by contacting local law enforcement
authorities, and by consulting the State Laws and Published
Ordinances_Firearms, available from the U.S. Government
Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
QUICK REFERENCE CHART
Rifles and
Shotguns Handgun
Permit to Purchase NO NO*
Registration of Firearm NO NO
Licensing of Owner NO NO
Permit to Carry NO YES
*Waiting Period
STATE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISION
"The people shall have a right to bear arms, for the defense
of themselves and the State." Article 1 Section 32.
POSSESSION
No state permit is required for the possession of a rifle,
shotgun, or handgun.
PURCHASE
It is unlawful for any person to sell or give a handgun 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, or to any person under 18 except from
a parent or guardian.
To obtain a handgun from a dealer or a private individual,
the person receiving the handgun by sale, trade or transfer must
complete an application in triplicate. The application will
contain the time of the transfer, the receiver's name, address,
occupation, birth information, and a complete description of both
the applicant and the handgun including the make, model, caliber,
and serial number. Both parties to the sale, trade, or transfer
of the handgun are required to sign the application. The
transferor is required to forward one copy to the local chief of
police or sheriff, and one copy to the superintendent of the
Indiana State Police within eight hours. The remaining copy will
be retained by the transferor for a period of six years. The
superintendent may require that fingerprints accompany the
application.
The transferor must wait 7 working days before delivering
the handgun to the buyer or receiver. During this time the
superintendent and local police authority are required to conduct
a record search to determine it there are any grounds for
non-delivery of a handgun to the applicant. A person may be
disqualified for reasons other than just felony conviction.* At
the end of the 7-day waiting period, if no notice of non-delivery
has been received by the transferor, he may deliver the handgun.
If a transfer is disapproved, an applicant may ask for a hearing
before the superintendent. If the disapproval is upheld, the
applicant may appeal to the circuit court.
Indiana law states that "no additional record of any lawful
transfer of any firearm shall be made...." All forms utilized are
required by law to be forwarded to the recipient of the handgun
within six months of the transfer, with the exception of those
forms retained by the transferor. The recipient of the handgun
will retain the forms as proof of ownership of the handgun or
handguns. It is the policy of the police to return the forms to
the recipient of a handgun only if he specifically makes a
request at the expiration of the six months.
Exceptions to the 7-day waiting period:
1. Law enforcement officers and holders of a qualified or
unlimited handgun carrying license.
2. Antique handguns.
If the governor declares a disaster emergency he/she may
suspend or limit the sale, dispensation or transportation of
firearms.
* The police may consider numerous arrests for an alcohol abuser
or having an unsound mind.
CARRYING
No person shall carry a handgun in any vehicle or on or
about his person without a license being in his possession.
Exceptions to carrying without a license:
1. Carrying on one's property, in one's dwelling, or one's
fixed place of business.
2. Any person while carrying a handgun unloaded and in a
secure wrapper from the place of purchase, or to and from a place
of repair, or in moving from one place of abode or business to
another.
3. 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."**
4. Law enforcement officers, members of the state board of
pharmacy and authorized corrections and judicial officers.
5. Military personnel while on duty.
6. Officers or employees of the U.S. duly authorized to
carry handguns.
7. Express company employees when engaged in company
business.
8. Persons engaged in the firearms business in the usual or
ordinary course of that business.
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 is forwarded to the 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 or handgun lawfully possessed by the applicant.
Proper reasons for a qualified license are hunting and
target practice. Unlimited licenses "shall be issued" for the
purpose of "defense of oneself." 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. Such an applicant is required to present a letter
from his employer showing a job-related need.
The term "proper person" includes someone who is 18 and has
not been convicted of a crime which carries a sentence in excess
of 1 year, a crime involving an inability to safely handle a
handgun, or within 5 years of being convicted of resisting law
enforcement or of violating Indiana's handgun laws, does not make
a false statement of material fact on his application, or is not
a drug or alcohol abuser and someone who does not have a
reputation or propensity for violence or instability. Reputation
and propensity may be established without necessarily showing a
violation of the law resulting in a conviction.
Every initial application will be granted or rejected within
sixty days. 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.
A license is valid for four years. The application fee is
$10. The fee for a qualified license for hunting and target
practice will be $5, and for an unlimited license, $15. Licensed
dealers, retired state and U.S. law enforcement officers, and
correctional officers shall pay no fee.
The superintendent shall have the authority to suspend at
any time any license issued upon having reasonable grounds to
believe that that license holder is not a proper person to be
licensed.
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.
** This has been interpreted by the Attorney General to apply
only to firearms obtained through the Civilian Marksmanship
Program.
ANTIQUES AND REPLICAS
Indiana's firearms statute "does not apply to any firearm
not designed to use fixed cartridges or fixed ammunition, or any
fireman made on or before 1898."***
***Some police interpret this to mean that such handguns are
exempt from the purchase and transfer requirements but not the
carrying requirements.
MACHINE GUNS
The following persons may possess machine guns:
1. Law enforcement officers and members of the armed forces
when on duty.
2. Persons possessing or having applied to possess machine
guns under applicable U.S. statutes, provided that such machine
guns will be transferred as are handguns: filling out handgun
transfer forms and complying with the seven-day waiting period.
3. Persons engaged in a business that involves machine guns
while or when acting within the scope of and in furtherance of
such business.
4. Persons who possess machine guns which are kept for
display as relics and which are rendered harmless and not usable.
SAWED-OFF SHOTGUNS
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.
MISCELLANEOUS
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 unlawful to manufacture assemble, or otherwise make
any deadly weapon without a valid license or with intent to sell,
use or cause it to be used for any unlawful purpose. It is a
class D felony to recklessly, knowingly, or intentionally perform
an act creating a substantial risk of bodily injury while armed
with a deadly weapon. It is a Class C felony to recklessly,
knowingly, or intentionally inflict serious bodily injury on
another by means of a deadly weapon. It is a Class D felony to
haze another person while armed with a deadly weapon. It is a
Class D felony to riot while armed with a deadly weapon. It is a
Class B felony to draw or use a deadly weapon while intentionally
fleeing from or while knowingly or intentionally failing to
return to lawful detention. A battery committed by means of a
deadly weapon is a Class C felony. A rape committed while armed
with a deadly weapon is a Class A felony.
A court may not suspend a minimum sentence, if the felony
committed was battery, sexual battery, confinement, rape,
criminal deviate conduct, robbery, burglary, resisting law
enforcement, escape, voluntary manslaughter or rioting with a
deadly weapon.
It is unlawful to possess, transfer and manufacture handgun
ammunition "that has a metal core or 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. Also excepted are law enforcement officers acting in
the course of their official duties or persons who manufacture,
import, or sell such ammunition to law enforcement agencies.
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 which
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.
The firing, displaying, or threatening use of a firearm
constitute grounds for expulsion or suspension of a student in a
public school corporation.
SOURCE: Bums Ind. Code, title 35, art. 47, ch. 1-8.
CAUTION: State firearms laws are subject to frequent change.
The above summary is not to be considered as legal advice or
a restatement of law. To determine the applicability of
these laws to specific situations which you may encounter,
you are strongly urged to consult a local attorney.
Compiled by:
NRA Institute for Legislative Action
11250 Waples Mill Road
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
1995, NRA Institute for Legislative Action
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