Hatcher blasts lack of transparency in conference committee hearing on eliminating handgun permits

INDIANAPOLIS - State Representative Ragen Hatcher (D-Gary) today expressed frustration with the Republican supermajority’s actions to insert language from House Bill (HB) 1077 into Senate Bill (SB) 209 without testimony from concerned law enforcement officials.

“Today, the supermajority used the conference committee process to resurrect their radical proposal to eliminate handgun permits in Indiana,” Hatcher said. “The Democratic members of this committee were given mere minutes to look over the committee report.”

SB 209 was originally a bill dealing with drug scheduling. During today’s conference committee, Republicans made a proposal to strip and insert language from the House-passed version of HB 1077, then recessed and left the room. Hatcher and other Democratic members remained in committee to hear comments from members of the public, including Indiana State Police Major Rob Simpson. 

“Law enforcement officials from around the state testified in opposition to HB 1077 over concerns that it would endanger law enforcement officers,” Hatcher said. “With their actions today, Republicans ignored the testimony of our public safety officials, including Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter.

“By leaving the room and cutting off testimony by calling a recess, the supermajority signaled that they do not care about what the public thinks,” Hatcher said. “I stayed to hear from those who came out today because I believe transparency and public input are incredibly important to my duties as a legislator.

“This proposal will put more handguns on our streets and add to the challenges many of our urban communities face in addressing violent crime,” Hatcher added. “We are putting politics above public safety.”