Senate Panel Votes In Favor Of Sawed-Off Shotguns

A Senate panel Wednesday approved legislation legalizing the possession, sale and use of sawed-off shotguns.

Federal law allows people to manufacture, sell, and own sawed-off shotguns, also known as short barrel shotguns.  But Indiana law doesn’t – and Wadesville Republican Senator Jim Tomes wants to change that.  His bill would align state and federal law, legalizing sawed-off shotguns in the Hoosier state. 

Tomes notes that these firearms are typically bought as collectors’ items.

“Those guns rarely do see a gun range because people buy them and usually just keep them in their collection just for the fact of owning them," Tomes said. "And they are expensive guns.”

Indiana State Rifle and Pistol Association legislative director Bill Dowden says many people have an outdated perception of the weapon.

“Oftentimes people, when they hear about sawed-off shotguns, are thinking back to the 1930s when Al Capone and his people all had Tommy guns and shotguns, and that’s what we’re stuck with today,” Dowden said.

No one spoke in opposition to the bill.  The Senate Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly approved the measure, which now heads to the Senate floor.