INDIANAPOLIS — The mass shooting at FedEx that left eight people dead is prompting renewed calls for change when it comes to guns and background checks.
Just this week, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and 150 other mayors signed this letter urging the U.S. Senate to take action on gun violence prevention specifically HR 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, and HR 1446, the Enhanced Background Checks Act.
Hogsett renewed his push for federal legislation following the FedEx shooting and also called on state lawmakers to do something.
“My concern about the Indiana General Assembly is that they only have three or four days left in the session but I will certainly make it clear to our Governor and our legislative leadership where I stand on these issues,” Hogsett said Friday.
Moms Demand Action’s Indiana Chapter also supports expanded criminal background checks.
In Indiana, someone can buy a gun through private sellers without a background check.
"A federal bill would close that gap so that all sales are receiving a background check,” said Jennifer Haan, volunteer leader with the Indiana Chapter of Moms Demand Action. “That is something that could have been done on the state level but obviously our state legislature hasn't done much on gun safety legislation.”
Guy Relford is a certified firearms instructor and Carmel attorney.
"Making good people helpless does not make bad people less harmful or less dangerous,” Relford said.
Relford expects to see an increase in gun sales and people seeking firearms training.
"Anytime people are concerned about having their rights restricted or their access to firearms restricted, people will react to that by trying to purchase things before those restrictions go into place,” Relford said. “We are always concerned about untrained gun owners, and we want people to take it upon themselves as a matter of personal responsibility and get the proper training so they can safely and properly use a firearm.”
Relford said many companies do not allow workers to bring weapons to work, and sometimes even forbid them from locking them inside their vehicles.
Indiana law says an employer can’t have a policy that prohibits employees from having a gun out of sight in an employees’ lock vehicle even on company property.
However, there are several exceptions to that law, Relford said.
It’s not yet clear what FedEx’s policy is related to firearms inside employee vehicles.
"Employees should be given the right to defend themselves, or they should be provided security by an employer,” Relford said. “That's where I would be focused."
Tom Stuckey, an executive associate dean at IUPUI’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs said solving gun violence is complicated.
“Very often it’s said that the only thing that the only thing that will stop this is a good guy with a gun, and the reality is greatly oversimplifies the situation.” Stuckey said. “Relying on private citizens to stop a situation like this is not a reasonable answer.”
Stuckey said in addition to expanded background checks, our society needs better enforcement of existing gun laws and better help for victims of trauma.
“The vast majority of mass shooters are men, and there is often a history of abuse or trauma that individual has suffered,” Stuckey said. “There’s often an anger or a grievance that's associated with these instances and there’s often a catalyzing or triggering event that causes this to bubble over if you will. We need to have far better de-escalation tools and a firearm in response to that firearm is not a de-escalation tool.”
Moms Demand Action points out Indiana already has a red flag law that allows family members to seek removal of a loved one’s guns if they believe they’re at risk of hurting themselves or others.
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