WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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In the Bill of Rights, the Second Amendment reads, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
The 2020 legislative session rekindled the gun debate in Indiana with various state legislators in both parties drafting bills to reform gun laws in the Hoosier state.
Indiana University Law Professor Jody Madeira is currently involved in a research project assessing how Americans talk about firearms and associated benefits, risks, rights, and regulations, according to her I.U. biography.
Madeira also teaches a course where she talks about the history of the Second Amendment, its original meaning and judicial interpretation. She explained the origins of gun policy after the Bill of Rights were added to the U.S. Constitution.
“For the 200 years, they interpreted it not as being an individual right to bear arms,” she said. Rather, she said it was intended for militia groups acting against a tyrannical government.
Madeira then broke down the subject of gun violence in Indiana. She said there has been an increase in homicides in Indianapolis. Furthermore, there exists an increase in young people committing suicide, Madeira explains.
“Indiana is 19th in the country for gun violence, which is not a great position to be in,” said Madeira.
“In Indianapolis, we’re having huge increases in homicides,” she said. “Across Indiana, we’re having huge increases in the number of suicides.”
According to the Center for American Progress, the burden of gun violence falls disproportionately on people of color. Madeira said it’s important for journalists to ask the right questions when it comes to violence in urban areas.
“Black people are overwhelmingly more likely to be shot,” she said. “The conversation is overwhelmingly situated on the urban gun violence problem.”
Madeira said mental health services in Indiana are lacking. She said a conversation about mental health should go hand-in-hand with gun regulation – particularly with regard to suicide.
“Indiana has some dismal mental health statistics as compared with the rest of the states,” said Madeira.
From 2008 through 2017, 5,050 people in Indiana died by gun-related suicide. This means, a gun suicide occurred every 17 hours, according to the Center of American Progress.
“The harder we make it for people to get guns, the harder it is for them to use firearms to attempt suicide,” she said.
This issue hits home to Jody Madeira. Her nephew died by a gun-related suicide four years ago.
“In 2016, in January, I had a 15 year old nephew who lived in New York who committed suicide with a firearm,” said Madeira.
Madeira talked about the relationship between suicide attempts, access to a firearm and mental health services.
“It’s not just important to talk about firearms,” she said, “it’s important to talk about mental health, too.”
She talked about Indiana’s red-flag gun laws, which can allow for law enforcement to seize firearms from someone who is deemed to be a danger to themselves or others.
“The other thing that comes into play,” said Madeira, “are Indiana’s red-flag laws.”
According to the Center of American Progress, from 2008 through 2017, Indiana had the 17th-highest rate of gun murders, with a rate of 4.19 gun homicides per 100,000 people. This rate is 9 percent higher than the national average.
