INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥 A video taken by a high school student shows an Indiana lawmaker flash a gun to students who were visiting the statehouse to talk to legislators about gun control.
A student from Burris Laboratory School in Muncie told The Associated Press that she and four other students were at the state Capitol on Tuesday to participate in a day of advocacy with Students Demand Action, an arm of Everytown for Gun safety. Alana Trissel, 17, said state Rep. Jim Lucas asked the students what brought them to the Capitol and began to defend gun rights.
Lucas, a Republican from Seymour, and the group then conversed outside the elevator and one of the students filmed the interaction, as was first reported by the , a student journalism news site at Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana.
In the video, Lucas told the students that people have to protect themselves and referenced failures of law enforcement to prevent mass casualties during school and
In discussing places where firearms are banned, Lucas said people aren't 鈥渢ruly free鈥 unless they can defend themselves. A student off camera asked Lucas if he means carrying a firearm. Just over six minutes into the 10-minute video, Lucas said, 鈥淚'm carrying right now," and holds open his suit jacket exposing a holstered handgun. It was not immediately clear what kind of gun Lucas was carrying.
鈥淣othing about someone carrying a gun makes me feel safe,鈥 a student said off camera after Lucas lifted his jacket.
The Associated Press could not immediately reach Lucas on Wednesday and left messages with his press secretary and at his Facebook page. Phone numbers in public records listed with his name were not connected.
In public on Tuesday night and on Wednesday, Lucas didn鈥檛 describe his actions. He said the conversation 鈥渨as respectful, but it was clearly facts, reason and logic vs. plain emotion.鈥
鈥淚 fear for, and pity those that are being indoctrinated to fear that which is their best means of self-defense,鈥 he added in a , in which he also linked to news articles about the Parkland and Uvalde killings in the comments section. 鈥淧eople are also being indoctrinated to depend on government for their 鈥榮afety,鈥 even when shown that government has clearly ruled that government doesn鈥檛 have the duty to protect us.鈥
Trissel said that the conversation took a "turn for the worst" after he showed the weapon. When asked by a student why he feels the need to carry a gun, Lucas said 鈥渢o be able to defend myself.鈥
Trissel disputed Lucas' claim that the group's argument was based on emotion, and she said she felt talked over.
鈥淪ince a state legislator had shown a weapon, I felt all the more powerless,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 felt scared. I felt alone. I was timid and almost petrified with fear.鈥
Indiana lawmakers and their staff are allowed to carry handguns in the Capitol and on complex grounds. A bill introduced this year would extend that right to some and their staff.
The video shows Lucas telling the students to go to a gun range and learn how to shoot, before Trissel interrupts him and asks if he has lost anyone to gun violence. Lucas said he has defended his family twice with a firearm and did not elaborate.
Lucas eventually begins to walk away and asked, 鈥淎nybody else have any rational concerns they'd like to address?" When the conversation began again, he walked away.
Trissel said after speaking to Lucas and other state representatives about gun control, she left the Capitol feeling unheard.
Lucas was in the news last summer when he to misdemeanor drunken driving charges after police said he crashed his pickup truck through an interstate highway guardrail and drove away. Lucas, who was first elected to the Legislature in 2012, was allowed to keep his position; state law only prohibits those with felony convictions from holding elected office.
Lucas is a prominent supporter of loosening gun laws and sponsored a bill last year that established a .
According to a report from of Columbus, Indiana, Lucas told students at an event in 2020 that gun control laws won't prevent mass killings at schools and that he was carrying at the moment. He then asked if that scares anyone in the audience, the report says.
He has faced controversy several times in the past for what .
