Gov. Eric Holcomb speaks during an Aspire Johnson County luncheon at Valle Vista Golf Club in October 2022.
Gov. Eric Holcomb speaks during an Aspire Johnson County luncheon at Valle Vista Golf Club Tuesday in Greenwood.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law three more bills Friday, including a debated measure that will effectively kill a pending lawsuit by the city of Gary against gun manufacturers and sellers.
Just two pieces of legislation remain unsigned — one defining and banning antisemitism within the Hoosier public education system, and another constraining the state’s public access chief.
House Enrolled Act 1235 ends a long-running Gary lawsuit against firearm manufacturers and prevents Hoosier communities from filing similar court challenges.
“While HEA 1235 does not impede families or businesses from legally challenging gun manufacturers, retail stores or trade associations, it does bring closure to a long standing statewide legislative debate,” Holcomb said in a statement. “This bill brings certainty that only the state, not political subdivisions, can bring forward such a lawsuit in the future.”
Talking to reporters on Thursday, Holcomb said he had read “every word” that Gary Mayor Eddie Melton has sent, but that it is “appropriate” for lawmakers to intervene in the active litigation. The Republican governor maintained his decision would be one that he’s “willing to defend.”
Under the new law, only the state attorney general could bring suit against gun manufacturers and sellers. The measure is retroactive to Aug. 27, 1999, three days before Gary filed its lawsuit.
As such, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita applauded the move. His office previously testified in support of the proposal, saying the attorney general — rather than a “slew of municipalities filing various lawsuits on what they perceive, based on their own ideological or political preference” — should have the sole power to sue.
“Hoosiers value their Second Amendment rights, and they support local businesses, including gun and ammunition dealers and sellers,” Rokita said in a Friday statement. “Glad to see the General Assembly defended the people of Indiana through the newest gun-related bill, which prohibits a political subdivision from independently suing these companies.”
There are two narrow exceptions — one to allow local governments to sue over a breach of contract or a warranty issue, and the other to allow political subdivisions to enforce their own zoning ordinances.
But representatives with the Brady Center, a gun violence prevention group that is representing the city of Gary in its lawsuit, said Friday that House Enrolled Act 1235 is “killing off the most consequential legal case against the gun industry in this country.”
“This new law in Indiana is a tragedy for Americans everywhere,” said Kris Brown, president of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit. “Indiana legislators just gave America’s top gun manufacturers a free pass. Every other industry faces accountability in the courts. It should send chills down the spine of every American that the corporate gun industry succeeded in changing the law to stop discovery and being held responsible in court.”
“Every American should question what the gun industry is hiding and what truly abhorrent practices they want to be kept in the dark,” Brown continued. “This is a grim day for the gun violence prevention movement and our nation’s future.”
Also signed Friday was House Enrolled Act 1199, altering an Indianapolis-based taxing district, as well as House Enrolled Act 1183, which limits “foreign adversary” land buys.
Will Holcomb sign the last two bills?
Holcomb has just [one] day to decide whether he’ll sign or veto two other hot-topic bills.
House Enrolled Act 1002, concerning antisemitism, was strongly questioned by Holcomb on Thursday.
In the final hours of the legislative session, state lawmakers struck a compromise to include in the core International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism within the bill. Excluded was the IHRA working definition’s 11 contentious “contemporary examples” of antisemitism, which include references to Israel.
Holcomb indicated the compromise is crumbling, however, saying “things have changed” since the bill was approved by the General Assembly last week.
“I want to make sure whatever we do we get it right. And we don’t just do it to do it,” Holcomb said.
He noted that people “far and wide” — including from outside the state — have contacted him with concerns.
Members of the Hoosier Jewish community said the examples need to be codified, but critics maintained they’re overly broad and limit free speech.
Separately, House Enrolled Act 1338 would curtail the office of the Public Access Counselor (PAC), a little-known office tasked with interpreting the state’s public records and meetings laws.
Commenting on the bill on Thursday, Holcomb said he would have preferred “more robust discussion” on the late-stage changes, but wasn’t worried about “politicization” of the position. He said he hadn’t made a final decision.
Restrictions in the legislation would allow a governor to dismiss the state’s PAC at any time, rather than a “for cause” dismissal currently allowed during a four-year term. It would also limit the PAC to considering only the “plain text” of the state’s public access laws and “valid” court opinions when putting together non-binding advisory opinions.
Senate Republicans have pointed to some of PAC Luke Britt’s advisories on school board meetings as the impetus for the language. Democrats, however, have argued the changes limit the PAC’s independence.
By Casey Smith – The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
