INDIANAPOLIS — Video taken by a high school student shows an Indiana lawmaker firing a gun at students who were visiting the state Capitol to talk with lawmakers about gun control.
A student at the Burris Institute in Muncie told The Associated Press that she and four other students were at the state Capitol on Tuesday to join the Everytown gun safety arm, Students Demand Action. Told. Alana Trissel, 17, said state Rep. Jim Lucas asked the students what brought them to the Capitol to start advocating for gun rights.
As first reported by Statehouse File, a student journalism news site at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, Lucas, a Republican from Seymour, and the group had a conversation outside an elevator, and one of the students filmed the interaction. did.
In the video, Lucas told the students that people must protect themselves, and that he is trying to prevent mass casualties in the school shootings in Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas. He cited failures by law enforcement.
In discussing where firearms are prohibited, Lucas said people are not “truly free” unless they can protect themselves. A student off camera asked Lucas if he planned to carry a gun. Just over six minutes into the 10-minute video, Lucas says, “I'm carrying it now,” and opens his suit jacket to reveal a holstered handgun. It was not immediately clear what kind of gun Lucas had.
After Lucas took off his jacket, the student said off-camera, “It doesn't make me feel safer if someone has a gun.”
The Associated Press could not immediately reach Lucas on Wednesday, leaving messages with a spokesperson and on his Facebook page. A phone number listed with his name in public records was not connected.
In public Facebook posts Tuesday night and Wednesday, Lucas did not address his actions. He said the conversation was “conducted with respect, but clearly facts, reason and logic versus simple emotion.”
“I fear and sympathize with those who have been indoctrinated to fear that it is the best form of self-defense,” he added in Wednesday's post, adding in the comments section to news articles about the Parkland and Uvalde killings. I also added a link. section. “People are indoctrinated to rely on government for their ‘security,’ even when the ruling is clear that government has no duty to protect us.”
Trissel said the conversation took a “worst turn” after the weapon was shown. When asked by a student why he felt the need to carry a gun, Lucas replied, “To protect myself.”
Ms. Trissel disputed Ms. Lucas' assertion that the group's discussions were based on emotion, saying she felt debated.
“I felt increasingly powerless as state legislators displayed weapons,” she said. “I felt scared. I felt alone. I was timid and almost petrified with fear.”
Indiana lawmakers and their staff are allowed to carry handguns inside the Capitol complex and within the complex. A bill introduced this year would extend that right to some statewide elected officials and their staff.
The video shows Lucas instructing students to go to a gun range and learn how to shoot when Trissel interrupts him and asks if he has lost anyone to gun violence. Lucas said he has twice used firearms to protect his family, but he did not elaborate.
Lucas eventually started to leave and asked, “Does anyone else have reasonable concerns that they would like to address?” When the conversation started again, he walked away.
After speaking with Lucas and other state lawmakers about gun control, Trissel said she left the Capitol feeling like she wasn't being heard.
Lucas made headlines last summer after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence after police said he crashed his pickup truck into an interstate guardrail and fled the scene. Lucas was first elected to Congress in 2012 and was allowed to retain his position. State law prohibits only those with felony convictions from holding elective office.
Mr. Lucas is a prominent supporter of gun reform and last year sponsored a bill that would create a state-funded handgun training program for teachers.
The Columbus, Indiana, Republic reported that Lucas told students at a 2020 event that gun control laws would not prevent mass murders in schools and that he still owns guns. He then asked if anyone in the audience was scared, the report states.
He has faced controversy several times in the past over what critics have called racist social media posts.
