INDIANAPOLIS -- A Senate committee tightened language in a bill that opponents said would have made Indiana the first state to give blanket immunity to gun owners whose weapons are stolen used in crimes committed by others.
The original version of the bill granted gun owners nearly blanket immunity even if they carelessly left a gun somewhere and someone else used it for a crime. That version would have made a gun owner liable only if they gave the gun to someone knowing that person would use it to commit a crime.
The Senate Criminal, Civil and Public Policy Committee amended the legislation Tuesday to specify that the gun must be stolen for owners to gain protection from lawsuits.
Bill supporters say the amendment clarifies the intent of the bill without watering it down.
''It protects the law-abiding citizen,'' said Sen. Robert Meeks, a Republican from LaGrange. ''If you recklessly lay your gun around, you are liable.''
Gun control advocates, however, say there is no need to protect citizens who secure their guns.
''This is a remedy for a wrong that doesn't exist,'' said Brian Siebel, with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. ''There's no flood of lawsuits out there on that.''
One 1997 shooting death led to such a lawsuit. Timothy Stoffer, then a 27-year-old convicted felon, took a gun from his parents' home and used it to shoot and kill Allen County Police Officer Eryk Heck before Stoffer himself was shot and killed. The Indiana Supreme Court said Stoffer's parents should have foreseen the danger because their son had stolen from them before. Justices said simply locking a house door prevents gun access in some cases, but in other cases, gun owners may need to do more.
Siebel said if the proposed bill had been law at the time of Heck's death, the parents would not have been held responsible.
''It would be argued that it's very clear that he stole the gun,'' Siebel said. ''But he stole it from owners who failed to secure the gun. Theft is totally foreseeable by a convicted thief. Gun owners have a responsibility to secure their firearms.''
The bill will not reverse that ruling, nor will it affect a lawsuit by the city of Gary against gun dealers, Meeks said.
The Indiana Supreme Court recently allowed the city to proceed with a lawsuit alleging the gun industry plays a role in Gary's high rate of violent crime by failing to do enough to ensure guns don't end up in the hands of people barred from having firearms.
The Brady Center, a gun control organization based in Washington, D.C., said the original version of the bill would have made Indiana the only state in the nation giving blanket immunity to gun owners.
The revised version more closely aligns Indiana with other states that grant firearms immunity, Meeks said.
Few states extend immunity to gun owners, although several states have immunity for gun manufacturers, Siebel said.
The main section of the bill would empower judges to stop frivolous lawsuits brought by prisoners. The House amended the bill to add the section about civil immunity for gun owners.
Bill supporters hope the new amendment helps clear up the intent of the gun portion of the bill.
''Hopefully this addresses the concerns of many people,'' said National Rifle Association spokeswoman Kelly Hobbs. ''Lawbreakers will still face the consequences of their actions.''
Don Davis, who runs Don's Guns and Galleries in Indianapolis, said the bill makes sense.
''If someone steals something from your home, how in the hell can you be responsible?'' Davis said. ''Hopefully we still got some common sense.''
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