Blind man gets license to carry permit to make a point about Indiana gun laws

Blind man gets license to carry permit to make a point about Indiana gun laws

A blind man was able to get a license to carry a firearm in Indiana, now he's trying to make a point about reasonable gun legislation in Indiana. (WISH Photo)

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A blind man is raising concerns about Indiana gun laws after he was allowed to get a license to carry a handgun.

Terry Sutherland told I-Team 8 he got his permit to prove a point and to try to spark conversations about reasonable gun legislation.

Sutherland was using his sight seeing stick when he went to the City County Building to get fingerprinted for the permit.

He said he spoke with several people who knew that he was blind.

“It just went very smoothly and normally, and nobody seemed to think anything about it. It was mind-boggling. It shocked me more than I expected. I thought at the last second somebody would go, ‘Wait a minute,’ and it just would not get approved. I’d get a letter that explained, ‘Listen, you can’t aim a gun or put a bullet where it’s supposed to go, so we’re not going to give you this permit,’” Sutherland said.

That didn’t happen. Now, his license to carry permit sits in a lanyard around his neck.

Sutherland is not against the second amendment. Before he lost his sight as a teenager, he learned how to safely use guns with his family, but he said being able to get his permit highlights a problem with Indiana’s gun laws.

His solution is something some states already do: Requiring people to pass a competency test at a gun range before being allowed to carry a gun in public.

“I think competency with a lethal weapon is the bare minimum we can do,” Sutherland said.

Second amendment advocate and lawyer Guy Relford challenged Sutherland’s idea.

“We start putting government imposed restriction on constitutional rights; I always think that’s dangerous and inappropriate. And that’s not to say people shouldn’t be trained, but society always functions better when people exercise personal responsibility and understand – of their own volition – that they need to be safe and responsible with that gun. To me it’s a bit of a ploy to go out and establish an argument for restricting constitutional rights where, by the way, we’ve had constitutional carry since 2022,” Relford said.

Constitutional carry allows anyone in Indiana over 18 to carry a gun in public, concealed or not, without a license. While Indiana residents do not need a permit to own or carry a gun, the license to carry allows Hoosiers to carry in states that require firearm permits.

Sutherland said he just wants common sense gun laws that keep the public safe.

“If I can have a gun, why can’t I have a drivers license? What’s the worst that could happen? I could kill somebody with a car,” Sutherland said.

Sutherland sent letters to his representatives at the Statehouse to see if they would talk about legislation, but he hasn’t heard back from them.

This story has been updated to correct information on Indiana’s license to carry permits and state gun laws.