By State Sen. Mark Messmer (R-Jasper)
Every time I take an oath of office during my tenure in the Indiana General Assembly, I swore to uphold and protect both the Indiana and United States constitutions.
During this year's legislative session, I co-sponsored legislation to defend law-abiding Hoosiers from having their gun purchase information tracked by the government and private entities.
The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects all Americans' right to keep and bear arms. This is reinforced by Article 1, Section 32 of the Indiana Constitution.
However, anti-Second Amendment activists have tried to use big banks, credit card companies and the government to collect data on private citizens' firearm purchases. Many fear this information would be used to financially target gun stores or legally harass citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights.
House Enrolled Act 1084 prohibits payment processors from labeling firearm purchases with merchant category codes to track the purchases.
Under this new law, if a company continues to track these purchases, financial regulators or the Office of the Indiana Attorney General may pursue violators. The attorney general may seek up to $10,000 in civil penalties.
Hoosiers have a constitutional right to bear arms, and I believe House Enrolled Act 1084 will help uphold that right.
The bill was signed into law by the governor on March 13, and will go into effect on July 1.
As always, feel free to contact my office directly with your questions and concerns by email at Senator.Messmer@iga.in.gov or by phone at 800-382-9467.
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State Sen. Mark Messmer (R-Jasper) represents Senate District 48, which
includes Crawford, Dubois, Gibson, Perry, Pike and Spencer counties.
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