Democratic Lawmaker Calls for Gun Law Changes

INDIANAPOLIS - Democratic state Rep. Ed DeLaney wants to introduce stricter controls for guns during the next legislative session.

DeLaney said Tuesday that he wants background checks for all gun purchases, more resources for probation officers and a state ban on assault weapons.

DeLaney's call for stricter gun laws comes after Indiana resident James Wesley Howell was arrested in California with a cache of guns and explosives, including three assault rifles. Under a guilty plea earlier this year for misdemeanor intimidation, Howell was supposed to forfeit all his guns, but Clark County probation officers took only one of them. 

DeLaney called it a systemic failure at every level.

“So we need to put adequate money into the probation effort.  We need to put adequate technological resources so that it’s easier and effective to report a violation," DeLaney said.

DeLaney also wants the legislature to ban assault weapons and enact universal background checks – something, he said, that will require Republicans to make a choice.

“My Republican friends have got to decide that protecting the majority of our people is more important that protecting their majority in the House,” DeLaney said.

House Speaker Brian Bosma could not be reached for comment.