Indiana has among the laxest gun-permitting statutes in the nation. One restriction even a lot of staunch pro-gun advocates support, sensibly, is a firearms-instruction requirement. You can get a carry permit here without knowing diddly about how to actually use a gun safely. Such instruction might have been a help here:
A fatal shooting on the Eastside was an accident, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Roosevelt Griffin, 57, was declared dead at Wishard Memorial Hospital after he was shot about 3:30 p.m. Monday near his home in the 300 block of Eastern Avenue.
The incident happened after one dog attacked another dog on the residential street.
Police said Griffin and Carolyn Walker, 49, who lived together, left their home to help after a neighbor asked them for assistance with the fighting dogs.
A police statement said Walker was carrying a gun when she tripped and fell. The gun discharged, and a bullet struck Griffin in the face.
Firearms instruction would not have included anything as specific as "Don't run toward fighting dogs with a loaded gun," but it might have made the woman more cautious about when and how to brings guns into a situation.
Although 48 states allow citizens to carry certain concealed firearms in public, not all that many have good, or any, instruction requirements. Shouldn't tame old Indiana in the middle of the Heartland be as safety conscious as cowboy-redneck-yahoo-infested Texas, which even has two levels of practical qualification for its Concealed Handgun License, one for semi-automatics and one for non-semi-autos.
