Indiana Prosecutor Blames Permitless Carry for Juvenile Access to Guns

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun has been harshly critical of the Democratic leadership in Indianapolis over what the governor believes is a lack of resolve and effort in getting tough on violent criminals, and the head of the local police union has even suggested that the state should intervene and take over prosecutions; accusing Marion County Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Mears of “sweetheart plea deals” that are returning violent offenders to the streets.

Mears is now firing back at Republicans, blaming them for violent crime by passing permitless carry three years ago. 

“When you encourage everyone to have a gun, when you pass permitless carry, it should come as no surprise to anyone that those guns are gonna end up in the hands of kids,” Mears said. “And when you have no private regulation of gun sales, it should come as no surprise that those guns are gonna end up in the hands of kids.”

Mears pointed to a disturbing trend in Marion County: murders tied to illegal gun deals involving teenagers. “If you don’t believe how serious of a problem this is and how deadly of a problem this is in our community, you can look at any one of the number of cases that are currently pending in Marion County where we have charged someone with murder in a gun deal gone bad,” he said. “You will see that there’s a number of individuals who’ve been convicted of murder, and the circumstances is a gun deal gone bad involving kids less than 18 years of age.”

Is Mears seriously suggesting that these illegal gun deals wouldn't be happening if the state hadn't enacted permitless carry, or had a "universal" background check law in place? 

These kids aren't old enough to legally possess a gun in the first place, so any minor selling a gun is already committing a crime. The same goes for any juvenile buying a gun on the black market. 

Mears is a moron if he truly believes that putting more restrictions on lawful sales between adults would cause juvenile offenders to suddenly obey the law. Honestly, though, I don't know if he does believe that, or if he's just using these cases as an excuse to pontificate on his opposition to things like permitless carry. 

The prosecutor says the problem goes beyond bad actors. He says when people are encouraged to carry guns with no training or required knowledge, it leads to unintentional consequences.

“When you encourage everybody to have a gun and there’s no obligation that they know anything about how that device works or functions, you’re going to see a number of accidental shootings, which is something we’re also dealing with here in Marion County, that directly impacts young people in this city,” Mears said.

While both Republicans and Democrats are pointing fingers at each other over crime in Indiana's capitol city, neither side seems eager to acknowledge that homicides are down substantially in Indianapolis compared to last year. According to the Indy Star, murders have dropped by 27 percent compared to this point in 2024. 

That blows a hole in Mears' argument that permitless carry is making Indiana a more dangerous place, but it also contradicts Braun's assertion that crime is out of control in Indianapolis. 

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