Indiana House Passes Workplace Firearm Possession Bill Exempting CFATS and MTSA Facilities

The Indiana House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill that would make it illegal to restrict or prohibit the possession, transportation, or storage of firearms (including in locked employee vehicles) at the workplace. H.R. 1065, which was introduced and referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources earlier this month, would amend Title 10, Article 14, Chapter 3 of the Indiana Code to disallow the restriction of firearm storage in employee vehicles parked on company property. Senate Bill 25, providing for similar measures, was passed by the state Senate on Monday; the two will have to be reconciled before becoming law.

As passed by the House, however, several exemptions apply. Most notably, the law would not apply to facilities regulated by the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) or the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA). That is, it would not authorize the possession, transportation, storage, or use of firearms at CFATS- or MTSA-regulated facilities, even in locked employee vehicles. The Senate version lacks this explicit exemption.