STATEHOUSE-Rep. Woody Burton (R-Greenwood) voted to continue keeping Hoosiers safe by supporting House Bill (HB) 1068 and 1065 as both bills passed out of the House today.

HB 1065 would prohibit business owners from prohibiting an employee from keeping a legally owned firearm in his or her locked vehicle at work.

While several amendments were heard, only two were adopted. The amendments added specific locations, such as child care facilities and penal facilities, to the list of locations exempt from the legislation.

"Most of the amendments were simply an attempt to water down a good piece of legislation and our right to bear arms," said Rep. Burton. "Rep. Delaney's (D-Indianapolis) amendment, for example, included a broad description of domestic violence shelters and then added them to the list of locations to be exempt from allowing legally owned firearms.

"We have several safe houses in Johnson County that would be included under this amendment. Meaning, if the owner of a safe house owned a gun, they would be in violation of the law even though it is their right to own a gun in order to protect themselves.

"These safe houses are where abused family members go to take refuge from domestic violence and they need to know they will be protected."

HB 1065 passed by a 76-21 vote.

HB 1068 was drafted in response to several newspapers throughout Indiana that published a database of licensed handgun owners' names and addresses causing handgun owners to raise concerns about privacy violations. The legislation would prohibit this information from being disclosed or open to public inspection.

"This legislation was drafted to keep Hoosiers safe-plain and simple. Having a public and easily accessible list naming all of the Hoosiers who have a gun in their home could be very dangerous. I am very pleased we were able to not only address the issue immediately but also find a reasonable solution."

HB 1068 passed by a 84-11 vote.

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