Sawed-off shotguns legal in Indiana starting July 1

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana residents soon will be able to legally own manufactured sawed-off shotguns under a repeal of the state's ban on their possession.

The change takes effect July 1 under a bill approved by state lawmakers earlier this year allowing the manufacture, selling or ownership of shotguns with barrels 18 inches long or less.

Bill sponsor Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville, said the change would bring state law into line with federal regulations allowing ownership of short-barreled shotguns by those who pass background checks for permits from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Federal law prohibits someone from altering a shotgun to have a barrel less than the minimum length, he said.

"You can saw off the barrel but you'll spend 10 years in a federal penitentiary doing that," Tomes told WRTV (http://bit.ly/1MG77nD ). "These guns are manufactured by licensed manufacturers and they're under heavy regulations."

One person was sentenced to an Indiana prison on a sawed-off shotgun during 2012 and 2013, according to Indiana's nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency.

Tomes said short-barreled shotguns are expensive to buy and mainly owned by gun collectors.

Leaders of the Indiana Chapter for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America didn't oppose the sawed-off shotgun ban repeal during the legislative session, saying the group was more concerned about proposals for repealing the state laws for handgun licensing and allowing colleges to impose campus bans on firearms. Both of those bills failed to advance.

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Information from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com