One man pressed the barrel of a loaded handgun into the chest of a woman holding her 1-year-old son. Another’s handgun was confiscated by police three times — twice for shooting in public. A third man was arrested for allegedly dealing crack cocaine and later was accused of beating his girlfriend. In each of these three cases, says the Indianapolis Star the person later applied for a permit to carry a handgun in public. In all of these cases — and hundreds of other questionable ones — the Indiana State Police granted that request, often over the objections of the local police department.
In some cases, it appears the State Police had a legal obligation to deny the permit. Even worse, many of those people committed subsequent crimes, some with the guns they were legally permitted to carry. The Star found a system that breaks down in many ways, enabling people with troubled and often violent pasts to legally keep a loaded gun in their waistbands and on their passenger seats.