Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
In a turn of events at the Indiana Statehouse this week, State Rep. Jim Lucas (R) drew attention when he openly displayed his firearm to a group of high school students, reports WEHT/WTVW.
The incident occurred during a discussion on gun control—a subject the students were, as you might imagine, actively advocating for.
Lucas, in response to the students’ mention of Australia’s gun ban, made a case for self-defense.
He argued that true freedom includes the ability to defend oneself and demonstrated his point by revealing his own gun, which he carried responsibly under his jacket.
“I’m carrying [a gun] right now,” Lucas tells the group of students, who were backed by the Bloomberg-funded Students Demand Action.
“See, nothing about that makes me feel safe though,” one of the students says. “Nothing about someone carrying a gun makes me feel safe. It makes me feel threatened.”
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“Those are feelings. I’m talking facts,” Rep. Jim Lucas responds. “People that want to kill you don’t care about your feelings.”
Indiana State Rep. Jim Lucas (R-Seymour) flashes his handgun at anti-gun violence advocates in the state Capitol.
— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) January 31, 2024
LUCAS: "There are little kids out there … Kids that are 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds that compete with handguns,"
ACTIVIST: "Nothing about that makes me feel safe." pic.twitter.com/dpoEiXvB2T
Following the exchange, the Indiana Democratic Party raised concerns, citing the discomfort of at least one student who felt threatened by the act.
Alana Trissel, 17, told the Associated Press, “Since a state legislator had shown a weapon, I felt all the more powerless.”
“I felt scared. I felt alone. I was timid and almost petrified with fear,” she added.
Meanwhile, Lucas took to social media to express his concerns over what he perceives as an indoctrination leading to an irrational fear of firearms, which he believes are a fundamental tool for protection.
“I fear for, and pity those that are being indoctrinated to fear that which is their best means of self-defense,” he wrote, per Fox News.
“People are also being indoctrinated to depend on government for their ‘safety,’ even when shown that government has clearly ruled that government doesn’t have the duty to protect us,” Lucas continued.
Well, what say you? Do you think Rep. Lucas handled the situation well?
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“… I felt all the more powerless.”- That can happen when you don’t have a way to defend yourself and the other person does. Imagine if a robber approached you. How would you feel then?
They’re training these kids to be limp wristed pussies, this nation is in decline.
Why in the world do people think they’re entitled to feel safe?
I think the Representative’s words and thoughts are right on point. He was calm and well spoken. But I don’t think he should have opened his jacket. He could have said “do you feel threatened by me in anyway?”. And then said “I am legally armed as any citizen should have the right to be. If you choose not to be that is your choice in a free government. Not the government’s choice-your choice”. His statement of the student’s feelings about being afraid are no concern of the predator thinking of attacking her for whatever their purpose is. Feelings are soft things, reality can often be harsh, but the criminal chooses that. Your personal soft meowing only tells the criminal you are ripe for their purpose. I wonder how many people know what a Predator Call is when you are out hunting predators? A wounded prey lament saying, “I am afraid-come get an easy meal”. Who would the young lady like sitting next to her on a bus? The legally armed Representative or 5 young punks eyeing her up? I think the Representative should extend an invitation to any student in the school to come to the range with him in the safely controlled environment of the range, with instructors on hand, to squeeze off a few shots with him. Come with their parents if they want. I think 30% would come. And then talk about their experience with other students the next day. Bring a kid to the range day. Just my thoughts. jd
“ One never leaves High School . Only the environment changes . “
– Rush Limbaugh .
I don’t think that Rep. Lucas handled the situation properly. The only way people will start to trust people with guns is if they experience good situations with people with guns. We trust the Lone Ranger and Tonto, because they have proven they are here to protect us. Even though they are fictional characters. However, trust must be earned. Just like respect, it must be earned. When people start to save others with their guns, the public will start to believe. I believe that when Rep. Gifford was shot in the head in Arizona, at least one brave armed civilian helped her. This was a start, but far too many bystanders with guns have fell short in other encounters across the country. We have to earn it folks.
I feel sorry for a seventeen year old that is afraid of an inanimate object. Her saying she was afraid what she meant was she was afraid of Jim Lucas.
That gun would never hurt her, it was not going to jump out of Jims holster and hurt her. These anti gun people have absolutely no common sense.
It is not the gun that will hurt you it is the IDIOT behind the gun. In her case she felt threatened by Jim, she was afraid he was going to shoot her.
If she says no she was not, then she was lying. She was not scared. Or will she admit that she is actually that ignorant? Thinking the gun will hurt her?
Like Jim said, “People are also being indoctrinated to depend on government for their ‘safety,’ even when shown that government has clearly ruled that government doesn’t have the duty to protect us,” . The only one that is going to protect you is you your self.
So the little girl was triggered. I would like to see her playlist and the movies she watches and video games she plays.
Ooops, I didn’t complete my thought…..
Those government gestapo agents that will inevitably follow any large-scale disarming of the public will really make her feel “powerless.”
If I show my concealed weapon to anyone, it’s a punishable crime here in Utah, and this state has almost the most pro-gun laws in the nation. The student who was disturbed by the legislator’s showing his pistol proves a belief I’ve had for years. Liberal-thinking people are more concerned about their emotions and feelings
while conservatives are more concerned about facts. Obviously, these are not absolutes and I don’t think that either applies all the time. Rep. Lucas would have been wiser not to show or even mention his concealed gun. If for no other reason, in doing so, he’s given up a strategic advantage he had against anyone who would harm him or his family or even someone in his vicinity.
Not something I would do personally, but I don’t see anything wrong with it in the context in which it was done.
If that student thinks she feels “powerless” now, wait until sometime in the future if anti-gunners get their way – Those government gestapo agents that will inevitably follow any large-scale disarming of the public. “Powerless” will take on a whole new meaning for the little nitwit.
I have guns and a permit to carry and use them. BUT and that’s a big BUT, my gun is the very last thing I will go to in a bad situation. Unfortunately too many people go for the gun before common sense kicks in. You don’t shoot someone because they looked at you the wrong way. There is no harm walking away from a jerk instead of killing him.
not like he flashed his dick ……….but i guess that would have been acceptable
Threatened …….by a state rep. Those kids are overplaying their hands. Drama for attention.
That kid dosnt make me feel safe.
The problem today is that many of the Nation’s children are coddled, and exhibit emotional hysteria, a mental condition. They are wusses, who will be incapable of keeping a household and raising children, much less running the country. They are being conditioned in this way by the left in order to make an all powerful state palatable to them. They do not have the confidence to face life on their own and will willingly want the government to take care of them. Study has already determined much of this.
Yes.
I think Rep Lucas handled the situation very well. Although Alana Trissel parents might have done the best they can, they failed in firearm education. I’m not speaking about shooting I’m speaking about respect for firearms, and how they work.
Unfortunately they raised a Snowflake and hopefully she is able to learn from the experience as it was a positive encounter.
Comparing the US and Australia is far from ideal. Still, it should be noted that crime in Australia (2022) is at an all time high with increases in homicides, sexual assault and motor vehicle theft. The right of self defence has erroded in all of “Great Britain” or the Common Wealth or whatever it might be called.
Who are these “kids”? They would really freak out if they saw the students around here having air rifle target practice and archery in the school, or trap shooting at the range after school.
I agree with Rep. Jim Lucas (R) entirely. When I see a person who is open carrying (holstered), I will be cautious initially until I observe him/ her for a bit. If an individual feels threatened by the mere sight of a weapon, that is training/ conditioning. I wonder if this same person is afraid of seeing a knive, let alone a weapon of opportunity. Schools are for EDUCATION, NOT INDOCTRINATION! Teaching political agenda does NOT belong in the school curriculum!
The people this misguided student should be worried about, are those in the mirror. In other words, people who want others to be as defenseless as she wants to be. Wonder how long she would have to wait for police in a rape scenario?
The pansy pussifiwd kids today deserve neither freedom nor liberty. They are too uneducated, or better, miseducated in our history and the natural human right to self defense. Ask the punks how they would respond to the Idaho college type kid killer breaking into their home, dorm or school housing and eradicating their lives!
What an awesome way to respond to these totally misguided youth. His response was factual and articulate! Well done!
I wonder if she would be nervous and timid if a police officer was there openly carrying a firearm? He was standing up for his right to defend himself and showing that right in real time. You people that have a problem with that are part of the problem. SNOWFLAKES
“See, nothing about that makes me feel safe though,” one of the students says. “Nothing about someone carrying a gun makes me feel safe. It makes me feel threatened.”
That is the thing that will eventually lead to us losing our rights. ‘Feelings’. This child has been brainwashed, will brainwash others, will vote for those who will brainwash, all the while thinking she is doing good, when in fact, she is destroying what has taken the past 6000 years of recorded history to develop. The ability to defend your life, your families, and your home from more powerful outside forces bent on destroying them. We all know the phrase, “God created man, but Col. Colt made them equal”. Even an 80 year old grandma does not heed to fear a 200lb attacker if she has grit, and this little teenager may wish she had a .38 in her purse on the day that she is faced with a rape, robbery, or beating.
Society is safer when criminals and ignorant people don’t know who’s armed. The left controls just about every aspect of social interaction, and that starts with schools that indoctrinate. Others to include: all forms of media, medical, banking, Wall Street, transportation and at every level of government. Anti-2nd Amendment agendas are being displayed in plain sight in more public places and private establishments than ever.
I think everything he said was right, but he shouldn’t have shown his gun unless asked. Patting it’s location under his jacket would have been less threatening and would have gotten his message across.
In general I agree with him, I think that far to many of the gun control activists are governed by fear and “feelings” because all they know about guns is what they see in the movies and the news. They have no reference for using guns responsibly, and that is 90% of the problem.
The indoctrination is working just fine I would say! The perfect communist plan, years in the making.
Feelings? I feel he should have waited until one of the lil communards made a threatning move or statement.
is it better to be thought unarmed than to flash and remove all doubt?
So “Fear” is their defense?? Why does anyone “feel safer” when the Honest , Armed Citizen is disarmed and the criminal still carries??
I have openly carried a well holstered 1911 in .45 for many, many years in a variety of States. The majority of the People I interact with do not even notice my pistol. These children are truly being indoctrinated to fear the firearm and not the criminal carrying it. Long Live the Republic!
It is time for our educators to teach the truth instead of indoctrinating our youth with propaganda.
I understand his point but that was not the time to show he was armed. Obviously these kids are concerned and they need a lot more conversation first. Just carry concealed and try to convey your message. We have to be smart about this folks. Question -Was he allowed to carry on Capitol grounds?
Sweet.. exactly the right approach.
Being a carrier myself, I am appalled at Jim Lucas’ actions. Concealed carry should be what it implies, concealed. Otherwise call it flash carry. A number of years ago my wife worked in a bank. She was worried about robberies, etc. I gave her a .32 acp, telling her to keep it in her purse and don’t let anyone know she had it. A few days later she told me she had opened her purse and showed it to the rest of the tellers. I took the gun back, and strongly admonished her. For his actions, DA Jim Lucas should loose his right to carry. He was showing off, and a firearm should not be used in such a manner, It’s called RESPECT, Jim, for the firearm as well as the students.
Rather than showing them his gun perhaps he should have scared them with facts.
The police can’t protect you because…..
1) crime happens within seconds, robbery, assault, rape, murder don’t wait for law enforcement.
2) police response happens within minutes and in many areas hours.
It’s called “Concealed Carry” for several reasons, the most important being that the malevolent do not know where they should initially strike. Because the dirt-bags make the first move, the aggressor has a, hopefully brief, initial advantage, which can be overcome by a surprising refusal to be, or allow another to be, a victim. Rep. Lucas could have easily made all of his points to his brainwashed audience without completely revealing his tactical advantage. I’ll argue that only occurs in the presence of imminent threat or in a training scenario.
These kids are truly brainwashed. “Backed by Bloomberg” is all you needed to hear. They’re so starved for attention, they’ll join any group just to feel included & important, then without realizing it they’re being persuaded to believe the lies of people who don’t even know anything about firearms. But then, that’s exactly why the left goes so hard after the kids. They’re easy to fool.
Let me start by saying I am 100% against gun control. I have my carry permit. I carry every single day. But …if I would carry in the State House I would instantly be arrested and become a Felon. Teaching these children and exposing them to something they have been indoctrinated against (even if they don’t even understand why) is a good thing in my opinion. But why does this guy get to play by a different set of rules? Why was he not arrested for concealed carrying in the State House?
Note: I am not from Indiana. I have been there many times. Are the laws different?
This is what the future (pussified) senseless and socialist-minded generation looks like, which eventually will turn this country into what the state of Commie-fornia has become. This is what happens when parents let schools indoctrinate their kids at a very young age with their ill-minded, socialist/communist “government knows what’s best for me” agenda.
“When seconds count….the police is a mere few minutes away”…… pretty much says it all.
These “people who FEEL threatened” when they SEE a gun are REDICULOUS in their BRAINWASHING! GET REAL! IF guns are eliminated from the LAW ABIDING AMERICAN CITIZENS — then ONLY CRIMINALS WILL HAVE GUNS. IT IS a God given RIGHT to be able to DEFEND YOURSELF and those around you when you are THREATENED by a person who IS WANTON to harm you!
Kids are obviously being indoctrinated { brainwashed} . If they are do stricken with fear, go home to mommy and have her change your diaper
Never display your concealed carry to anyone – ESPECIALLY indoctrinated woke females. Let them be happily surprised if you end up defending them against an armed-and-angry-trans-mass-shooter.