Gun climate in Indiana

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jmr40

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I'll be spending a few days there later this month. I know what the laws are, but I'm trying to get a feel for local norms. For example in some places open carry is legal, but frowned upon. In other places no one seems to care. In some places a full size handgun worn OWB with an untucked shirt is close enough for CC. In other places much more care should be exercised. In some states what is legal in rural area's is illegal in urban areas. I will be somewhere near Indianapolis. At this point I'm unsure if I'll be in an urban area, or rural areas near there.

My wife and I volunteer on a local team that assists our Sheriff's Dept. and Emergency Management Office with searches for missing people as well as disasters, storms, tornadoes, and special events. Locally, and when in uniform, we are generally not allowed to carry. But the Sheriff can, and has allowed us to in rare cases. We are often asked to assist with searches or disasters in other areas, often out of state.

When we do this we are usually on our own, not in uniform, and not representing the Sheriff's office. The Sheriff can authorize us to assist in any county bordering ours. But to go any further requires county commissioner approval and that rarely happens, especially to travel out of state. But we can volunteer on our own, drive our own vehicles and not represent the county and still participate as long as we don't wear our uniform. Since all of us also have a carry permit we often do carry. It really depends on the situation. Some searches are in areas that I wouldn't want to go without a gun. I won't know any details about this search until we are briefed after arriving.

I've done this many times over the years in GA, FL, AL, SC, TN and NC. I have a pretty good idea of what to expect in these states. But Indiana is getting out of my territory and I don't really know what to expect above the Mason-Dixon Line.
 
Indiana has state level preemption. Bloomington, home to Indiana University, is probably the most leftist city in the state. A couple years ago the local veteran owned tactical training, group which is a class 3 dealer, participated in the 4th of July parade with their registered MGs displayed mounted to their jeeps. Bloomington's ultra leftist mayor wrote an op-ed whining about preemption and how he couldn't protect his town (from a group of law abiding veterans who neither harmed nor threatened anyone), but his op-ed illustrated how strong state level preemption is here. The PD in Bloomington is pretty centrist in my experience, and the county sheriff's office is pretty right leaning and pro gun. Most of the Indy suburbs are pretty right leaning and pro gun. Indy proper is pretty neutral. When the last Moto GP race at IMS was here a few years ago I met up with some friends downtown the night before: IMPD barely batted an eye at a few guys carrying large fixed blades on their belts, and focused on the very few actual trouble makers in the pre-race crowd that was downtown that night. There is no knife preemption in Indiana law, but outside of cities like Gary no one really cares what you're carrying knife wise. The state is still very rural and agrarian, so knives are largely viewed as common tools even in the cities, from my experience.
 
This map and the previous years' maps that are linked on the page will help you see where the roughest spots are in the Indy metro area - https://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/crime/map-indys-most-dangerous-neighborhoods-2018
I've done this many times over the years in GA, FL, AL, SC, TN and NC. I have a pretty good idea of what to expect in these states. But Indiana is getting out of my territory and I don't really know what to expect above the Mason-Dixon Line.
My understanding is that southern Indiana was settled by Appalachian folks coming north out of KY, while central and northern Indiana were settled by folks coming west from Ohio. Outside of Bloomington and Gary you don't get large densities the hardcore Chicago / NYC / Boston type leftists. Indy is a very centrist, very Ohio like, soft liberal / soft conservative city. SW and South-Central Indiana is very much Appalachian foothills both geographically and culturally until you get right outside of Indy proper.
 
Thanks guys, this is the type of information I'm looking for. I may decide that there is no need to carry. While I don't know details, I'm certain this is a cold case where we are looking for human remains. When we get asked to assist on something like this the subject we are looking for has been missing for months, even years at times. You'd be surprised at how many people walk off into the woods to commit suicide and don't want to be found, many never are. If this proves to be the case I'm not too concerned. But other times we are assisting LE looking for remains of a probable murder victim so they can prosecute the case.

We have participated on some cases very much like the Mollie Tibbetts case recently in Iowa. On some of these searches we end up in some rough areas knowing that there are people who don't want us to find anything. If legal to do so, we all feel better if we are carrying in those situations.
 
I find Indy to be a pretty gun-friendly state overall, but I don't see a lot of open carry around Indianapolis, some, but not a lot. As mentioned, Bloomington is a liberal hot bed. I see CC a lot, and even OWB with an untucked shirt. I personally always carry IWB, but only to keep things civil, and that is a personal choice. I have a buddy that carries OWB everywhere, including church, and nobody bothers him.
 
Lived in Indy all my life. I have lots of friends that open carry but I don't. As to dangerous parts of town. Just use your head. If you see pawn shops, strip clubs, liquor stores, and bars on ALL the windows, turn around. You are in 'Indian' country.

Generally North of 38th street, west of 465, and South of Fountain Square are fine.

I have never had a problem here but I stay out of the ghetto and keep my eyes open.
 
If you see pawn shops, strip clubs, liquor stores, and bars on ALL the windows, turn around. You are in 'Indian' country.

Turning around may not an option. Several years ago in Jacksonville Florida we were looking for a suspected suicide victim. He was last seen alive leaving a pawnshop on foot in a rough section of town where he spent his last dollar on a gun and box of ammo. Several of us were assigned to search an abandoned trailer park within walking distance of the pawn shop thinking he may have gone there to kill himself. This was in a rough part of town and several homeless people were living in the abandoned homes. Lots of evidence of drug use. That was the day my wife decided to get her carry permit.
 
As the other posters have said, Indiana is a gun friendly state.
Does Georgia have handgun permit reciprocity with Indiana?
If so your good to go.
 
I surmise that this is a group activity so hopefully it is a very low threat level to your personal safety.

However I would carry in accordance with State Law. Since you have a lot of experience doing this type of stuff you know the risks of tramping around in rural countryside how it would be easy to come across a meth lab, pot growing patch or someone that doesn't like stranger(s) trespassing on his turf. (Especially meth heads).

Any interesting stories of things OTHER than dead bodies that you have found?
 
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Does Georgia have handgun permit reciprocity with Indiana?

Yes. I know what is legal, just trying to get a better understanding of local customs.

Any interesting stories of things OTHER than dead bodies that you have found?

I could write a book. But I'll keep it brief in order to keep the thread focused on firearms and open. I would go into more detail with PM's about what we do if anyone is interested. Once someone has been deceased for more than a few weeks we don't find bodies, and after more than a few days it isn't pretty. We most often look for clues. We may find an article of clothing, a cell phone, gun, a single bone etc. Once that happens cadaver dogs are brought in. More often than not they end up being animal bones, but the dogs know the difference.

The bones are usually under leaves or other debris and the dogs find them. Sometimes we have to dig down a few inches to find what the dogs hit on. Most of them are in an area roughly the size of a basketball court, but animals will often drag them further. And to be honest most of the time we find nothing. 1/3 of all missing people are never found and unless we are looking in the right area we won't find them. It is a big world and we don't always have good info. Most are actually found by accident by a hunter or someone else, often years later.

I once found a $30,000 John Deere tractor that was parked in the woods and covered in camo netting. Either stolen or hidden from the repo man. We found a cell phone that someone had thrown into a storm drain. It washed out into a creek where we found it. It ended up not being related to the case we were working on, but it had evidence on it that led to the conviction of a pedophile.
 
Our home is in Ohio but we live a mile from the Ohio/Indiana border. We do a lot of grocery shopping in Indiana. In both states an IWB with a shirt tucked over in the summer months works . In winter months an OWB with an untucked shirt or jacket works just fine.

Open carry is legal in Ohio but I never open carry. I'm not sure about open carry in Indiana. Not a fan of open carry.
 
I was often asked if I was from Kentucky during my time at Purdue/QUOTE]

A disproportionate people from south of US 40 (Indy) speak southern. I used to travel to southern Indiana on a frequent basis

You can open carry. I wouldn’t, but I would CC

Hopefully the question has been answered
 
There are some great gun shops here. 500 Guns, Point Blank, Hoosier Armory, Tims. Go a Google. You could spend a day and not hit them all. Indy is very gun friendly.

On Sep 29-30 there are 2 pretty good gun shows. Tipton and the Armory show ar Minnesota and Holt road.
 
Southern Indiana boy here. Way down in the tippy toe, but I do a lot of business in the Indy area. I would just carry discretely and not worry about it. There are no draconian gotcha laws in the state.

While I might carry a large frame revolver down here, I switch to a more concealable .380 there. Just keeping a low profile is all.
 
There are no draconian gotcha laws in the state.

With all the bad things I've heard about your western neighbor that is good to know.

Open carry vs CC is the basic question I guess I'm trying to get at. With the physical things we do OWB is a lot easier and more comfortable than IWB. Shirt tails are usually out anyway especially in hot weather, but with what we do it doesn't always stay covered. Knowing that someone won't freak out and call 911 if they see a gun accidentally exposed is comforting. Local LE always know we are there and we've had that happen before. On most all searches they have at least one investigator stationed at our command post and they often supply several officers to actively participate in searches. If we find anything of interest we bring the investigator to the area and they determine if it is relevant.

I've done 2 searches in South Carolina. On one of them the officers at our command post were pretty adamant that we keep them concealed. On the other no one said a word.

A disproportionate people from south of US 40 (Indy) speak southern.

Then we should fit right in. But there is a HUGE difference even in GA. South of Macon you get the traditional southern drawl common in movies. Think " Gone With the Wind". North of Atlanta the accent is Jeff Foxworthy.
 
If you have a concealed permit you are allowed to open carry. In Jasper County very few do open carry outside of hunting season. Basically if you walk around looking like you aren't wanting trouble nobody is going to give you any.

In Indiana, there is no such thing as a "concealed carry permit". There is an LTCH permit ("Licence to Carry Handgun") which does not specifically whether it is concealed or carried openly. This is by design, and there is not any wording in the Indiana constitution that differentiates between concealed and open carry.

This may sound like I am nit-picking, but it is actually a very important legal point to make. I know lawyers and LEO's in Indiana that battle this distinction all the time. The Indiana gun laws make NO provisions for concealed carry one way or the other.
 
Thanks for the input. The trip is over and we got home late last night. We ended up staying in Kokomo but were searching farms in a rural area 15 or so miles from town. There were actually 2 missing women, one since 2009 and the other since 2016. They are missing, presumed murdered with the bodies dumped somewhere. We didn't find anything, but feel confident that the areas we searched are not where they are located. That is the way these things work. Often remains are never found and it isn't unusual for it to be years later if they are. Usually quite by accident.

Since we were searching private property with the help and cooperation of the land owners I never felt the need to carry my gun while searching. Sometimes we are in areas less desirable and having one is comforting. The only time I carried on this trip was from the truck to the motel room and back.

And to the people of Indiana. You have a beautiful state and I enjoyed my time there.
 
Since we were searching private property with the help and cooperation of the land owners I never felt the need to carry my gun while searching. Sometimes we are in areas less desirable and having one is comforting. The only time I carried on this trip was from the truck to the motel room and back.
For future reference, you may want to consider one of these, http://www.hillpeoplegear.com/Products/CategoryID/1/ProductID/5 It allows you to carry your pistol concealed while keeping it out of the way while hiking, working, running etc. Personally I think open carry is a bad idea in almost all situations outside of the most rural environments, and I say that as someone who did it for a number of years.
 
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