Should driver’s license show if you have handgun permit?

A veteran Republican lawmaker thought he had a great idea to keep police safe and gun owners happy. And all it entailed was one little letter on a driver’s license.

But it turned out to be a scarlet letter — and amid howls of protest from his colleagues, Rep. Douglas Gutwein was pressured to withdraw House Bill 1029.

The bill in question would have required Indiana driver’s licenses to indicate whether motorists also have permits to carry handguns.

Gutwein said he yanked the proposal partly because it was misunderstood by his Statehouse colleagues. He said the bill would have increased police safety while protecting the privacy of gun owners.

Gutwein said his gun bill would have let police officers on traffic stops know with a glance if drivers are permitted to carry guns. That would save them the wait of getting the information over the police radio or through the in-dash computer in their patrol cars.

Gutwein said it would also prevent the gun owner’s information from being broadcast over the police scanner.

“In some of these small towns, that information comes over the scanner and now everyone and his brother knows he has a license to carry if they’re listening,” said Gutwein, R-Francesville, a dues-paying member of the National Rifle Association with an “A” legislative rating from the organization.

The bill would have required residents to tell the Bureau of Motor Vehicles if they are licensed to carry a gun. The BMV would then note it on the driver’s license, perhaps with a “P” for for concealed carry “permit,” Gutwein said.

Gutwein said he heard privacy concerns from about 30 of his fellow legislators. “I got a lot of emails from my colleagues,” he said. “I think there was some misunderstanding about the intent, which was to protect gun owners’ privacy. But I pulled it and will try again next year.”

Gutwein said he hadn’t been contacted by the NRA, “but I heard they are not happy.”

And he would be right.

Bill Dowden, legislative director for the Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association (state chapter of the NRA), said the organization opposed the bill and had predicted most of its members wouldn’t like it either.

Dowden said the proposal violates state law protecting the identities of people with licenses to carry handguns.

“You have to show your driver’s license for a lot of things now,” Dowden said. “So we are saying that a clerk at a grocery store can now see if you have a license to carry. That’s in direct violation of restrictions on the release of that information.”

Indiana law states that “general information concerning the issuance of licenses to carry handguns in Indiana may be released to a person conducting journalistic or academic research, but only if all personal information that could disclose the identity of any person who holds a license to carry a handgun issued under this chapter has been removed from the general information.”

State Police records show that 570,712 people in Indiana, and 66,813 in Marion County, have licenses to carry handguns.

Dowden saw the proposal as similar to one he authored that provides a notice on licenses for veterans with the letter “V” on the back. The notice allows vets without their paperwork to take advantage of veterans’ discounts.

Gutwein said three constituents concerned about their privacy proposed the idea of designating gun permit holders on drivers licenses.

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418 and follow on Twitter @john_tuohy.