A student taped an Indiana lawmaker flashing his gun at students in the Capital who were there to talk about gun laws and gun violence. The video quickly went viral on the internet.
From Muncie’s Burris Laboratory School, one of the students said she was at the state capitol on Tuesday with four other students to show support for Students Demand Action. They were going to talk about gun safety there.
Alana Trissel, who is 17, said that Jim Lucas asked the students why they were there and then started to support gun rights. The politician was talking to a group of students while standing outside of an elevator. One of the students was recording the conversation. Lucas talked about the need for guns for safety in the video. He also talked about how police have failed to protect kids from mass shootings like the ones in Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas.
Lucas then said that no one is “truly free” if they can’t protect themselves. One of the students asked him if he meant physically having a gun. When he opened his jacket, he showed that he was carrying a gun. He then said, “Carrying right now.”
“Seeing someone with a gun doesn’t make me feel safe,” one of the kids said. He flashed the gun at them, which students say made the talk more heated.
Trissel talked about how she felt at the time by saying, “Because a state lawmaker showed a gun, I felt even less powerful.” I was scared. I felt by myself. She said, “I was shy and almost sick with fear.”
Lucas didn’t answer right away to the comments on the video, but he did write on Wednesday, “I fear for and pity those that are being taught to fear that which is their best form of self-defense.” It’s also being taught that people should count on the government for “safety,” even though it has been made clear that the government doesn’t have to protect us.
Indiana’s carry rules are less strict, and lawmakers and their staff are allowed to carry guns in certain places, like “complex grounds” and even the Capital. A bill that was just presented will give this right to all elected officials in the state.
