INDIANAPOLIS – One year after Indiana removed the permit requirement to legally carry a handgun, applications for firearm licenses have dwindled — and so has the number of misdemeanors filed for unlawful carry.
But as gun crime rates around the state continue to increase, law enforcement officials are hesitant to blame the new constitutional carry law.
So far, in 2023, the Indiana State Police have received 11,143 applications and issued 10,587 handgun licenses. In 2022 — the year the new law took effect — 47,254 licenses were issued.
That’s a significant drop compared to the prior year when state police approved nearly 136,000 firearms licenses.
Indiana retained its licensing law to allow people who wish to carry in other states — that still require licenses — to obtain one. But no one is required to have a license in the state.
Despite pushback from dozens of Hoosier law enforcement officers and police chiefs — along with stern criticism from the state police superintendent — Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the constitutional carry bill into law, which took effect July 1 of last year.
“We’re still watching it very carefully. We have limited ability to inquire about possession of a handgun,” said Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter. “We’re making the best of it. It is what it is right now. It is state law so we’ll do the very best we can.”
Plainfield Police Department Chief Kyle Prewitt, who also represents over 300 members of the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police, said police don’t get to write the laws but have to apply them.
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