Here's an odd one. It's common for legislators to not read proposals carefully enough to know exactly what they're passing (note, for example, the recent law that ordered noncompetitive races taken off the ballot, apparently to everyone's surprise). But here's a legislator dismayed to discover that a bill he authored resulted in exactly the kind of activity his bill made possible. The legislation in question is the law that allows Hoosiers to carry firearms in public locations such as parks, libraries and some municipal buildings, written by State Sen. Jim Tomes, a freshman Republican from Wadesville. He said situations like the recent one at an Evansville Zoo were never what he had in mind:
Still, Tomes said, he was "furious" when a man refused when asked to conceal a handgun holstered at his hip while at the zoo on Sept. 10. Police escorted him out because, they said in an incident report, he "started causing a scene."
"A responsible person doesn't do that," Tomes said. "We have our rights. We hear a lot about that. But we also have obligations and responsibilities, and that requires us to conduct ourselves in a manner that would not generate alarm out in public."
[. . .]
Tomes, though, said the point of the law is not to increase the number of guns present at public locations. It's to allow Hoosiers to keep their firearms close by without legal worries.
"It's not that they want it in the zoo; it's that they want it with them when they travel. It's not that they need it in a city park or that they need it in the library; it's that they want it on their person when they're out and about," he said.
To keep such incidents from happening again, Tomes said it's up to those proponents of the new law to carry the water.
"I don't know if there will be some other person that decides that this is what they want to do," he said.
"This is really going to come to bear on the community of people that enjoy firearms to make sure that they can educate people — to say that, 'Look, you have a duty and a responsibility to behave appropriately.' "
If Tomes wants to be furious with someone, he should start with himself rather than the Evansville gun-toter. Yes, it can be said that the man acted without common sense, even that he wasn't being a good neighbor or a thoughtful citizen. But that's not the law's concern, unless our overseers in the General Assembly want to start mandating our etiquette. The new law expanded the number of places where guns can be carried and took away most of local governments' ability to issue exceptions, which means when and where to carry a gun (including openly, if one chooses) has been largely put into the hands of individual citizens. Imagine if the senator's admonition -- be nice, keep a low profile, be aware of others' feelings when you do what you're legally entitled to do -- were applied to other basic rights. You've got free speech, you know -- just shut up when people are offended or scared by what you say.
