This time last year, Indiana lawmakers were debating proposals to loosen firearms restrictions and limit "gun-free zones" when a man opened fire at a Florida high school and killed 17 people.

In the shooting's aftermath, lawmakers couldn't come to an agreement on these measures, which would have removed the fee for handgun carry permits and allowed people to carry handguns onto church grounds that had schools on their property. In fact, they didn't pass any firearm-related legislation, a rarity in the Republican-led General Assembly.

Those measures are back, but this year the mindset has shifted. School shootings like the ones in Parkland, Florida, and the one in late May at Noblesville West Middle School are now being citedas reasons to support pro-gun legislation.

More than 20 firearms-related bills have been filed this year – more than in each of the five previous years. While some would restrict access, most ofthe bills moving through the Statehouse right now would expand it.

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Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, stood on the House floor Monday with a copy of an investigative report that Florida officials commissioned after the mass shooting. Lucas was presenting House Bill 1253, which he authored to provide firearm training grants for teachers and other school employees who want to carry a gun at school.

“I hold in my hand a 450-page report that I've read, reread and read again,” Lucas said.

One of its most controversial recommendations was to arm teachers. Indiana law already allows for this, leaving the decision up to individual school boards.

Initially, some lawmakers expressed concern that an early version of Lucas’ bill could be used to strip boards of that power and lift all prohibition of guns on school campuses. Lucas said that while his ultimate goal is to get rid of all gun-free zones, he wasn’t intending that with this bill and amended in language to leave that decision to school boards.

“The only thing gun laws do is disarm the law-abiding person and make them easy victims for people that don’t obey laws,” he said.

As amended, the bill sets minimum training standards for teachers who want to use school safety grant funding to cover the cost of their training. Lucas said the training costs $1,500 to $2,000 per teacher, arguing it’s a better investment than the annual cost of one school resource officer.

A group of Parkland students have been outspoken advocates for stricter guns laws and an advocacy group of parents and students pushing for gun control has also emerged since the shooting in Noblesville, where a middle school student shot a teacher and fellow student.

Lucas and other lawmakers, however, argue that mass shootings like Parkland illustrate why Indiana needs to ease gun restrictions and help Hoosiers to defend themselves.

"If ever there was a time to push through on those issues ...," he said.

Bills would scrap permit fees, expand gun access on church grounds

Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, has taken a different approach. He didn't mention mass shootings when he proposed House Bill 1643 in committee, but it contains two proposals that got caught up in the scramble after Parkland last session.

His bill would remove the fee for short-term firearm carry permits but keep them intact for the lifetime permits. It would also allow churches with a school on their property to permit people to carry handguns onto church grounds, a policy that Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America opposed.

"I'll tell you that we're always trying to create policy and what is happening outside is going to continue to happen," Smaltz said later in an interview. "So we just need to focus on what is good policy for Hoosiers today."

Despite the failure of similar bills last year, Smaltz is optimistic House and Senate lawmakers are now on the same page.

He and other supporters of the legislation argued Hoosiers shouldn't have to pay to practice a constitutional right, nor should churches be unable to let their members bring firearms on their grounds if they own the property. Meanwhile, opponents are worried about the loss of revenue associated with nixing the short-term permit fee and the safety concerns associated with bringing more firearms on school property.

That bill passed out of the House Ways and Means committee Tuesday and now heads to the floor for a vote.

Some gun restrictions advance

This session hasn’t been a complete wash for those hoping to rein in firearms access. The Republican-led House Bill 1651, which is awaiting a vote in the full chamber, would enhance Indiana’s so-called red flag laws. Under current law, police can temporarily take away firearms from dangerous individuals. House Bill 1651, however, would close some loopholes and prevent dangerous people from buying firearms.

A second bill, Senate Bill 119, would reaffirms what’s already in place at a federal level: Hoosiers can’t give a machine gun to someone under 21 years.

In recent years, only bills that would ease restrictions — not tighten them — have made it through Indiana’s Statehouse, led by a Republican supermajority.

But even if both bills pass both chambers this year, it’s a small step compared to what firearm restriction advocates were hoping for this legislative session.

Meanwhile, bills that would further limit gun access appear stalled, with only a week left to vote bills out of committee. The bills that haven't advanced would take away firearms in cases involving domestic violence, strengthen Indiana's background check requirements and require parents to properly secure their firearms.

The latter two were on the wish-list of Noblesville Stands Together; the group formed after the Noblesville shooting.

J.D. Durst, a parent of Noblesville West students and member of Noblesville Stands Together, urged lawmakers to take action at a Statehouse press conference last week.

"The Noblesville West shooting has had a serious and lasting effect in our community. We now have a new generation of children and teachers who come to school every day, aware of what could happen in their classroom, fearful of what they would do if someone entered their school with a gun," Durst said. "New legislation would not only send a message that Indiana must be a leader in common-sense gun laws, but also lessen the fears facing our teachers and students each day."

Smaltz, when asked about the gun control measures that haven't advanced, said his committee doesn't have enough time to hear every bill. He said only one lawmaker came to him asking for a hearing on her gun-related bill, and he told her to prove it would have some support in the full chamber.

"You can't just hear everything," he said. "Every bill you have to hear has to have a plausible chance of passing through the process, and part of that is support throughout the members."

Call IndyStar education reporter Arika Herron at 317-201-5620 or email her at Arika.Herron@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @ArikaHerron.

Call IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.