Kids terrified as Republican lawmaker flashes gun during school’s statehouse visit

An Indiana state lawmaker was captured on video opening his suit jacket and flashing a holstered pistol to shaken students who were on a visit to the Statehouse in Indianapolis to voice their concerns about guns and school shootings, according to The Statehouse File.

“I’m carrying one right now,” Republican state Rep. Jim Lucas said, as he opened the right side of his jacket to show the weapon on his person.

“See, nothing about that makes me feel safe,” a student behind the camera replied. Nothing about carrying a gun makes me feel safe. It makes me feel threatened.”

Lucas interjected. “Okay, those are feelings. I’m talking facts. I’m talking facts.”

“That’s what this is about—” the student, identified by the Statehouse File as 17-year-old Makynna Fivecoats.

“Feelings,” he asked.

“Yes it is,” Fivecoats told him.

Lucas then said, “The people who want to kill you, don’t care about your feelings though.”

And Fivecoats came back, “Exactly, that’s the problem.”

The 30-second clip appears to be a snippet pulled from a longer interaction. A longer video of the 10-minute exchange can be found at TheStateHouseFile.com, which operates out of the Franklin College’s Pulliam School of Journalism.

Fivecoats later told the outlet that the moment really shook her to the core.

“My heart sank to my stomach,” Fivecoats said. “I genuinely felt very unsafe in that moment. And I really just wanted the conversation to kind of end after that.”

Lucas made light of the interaction when reached by the outlet, saying he was “simply showing an inanimate object” to explain his defense of guns.

“People that want to have adult conversations, I think, need to be able to handle adult situations,” told the outlet.

He said they clearly weren’t ready to handle the situation “if they felt intimidated by somebody, like myself, just simply showing them something that is protected by our Constitution.”

Last May, Lucas was caught driving under the influence when he struck a guardrail and drove against traffic on an Indiana interstate entrance ramp.
The Seymour pol pleaded guilty last week to two misdemeanors — operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.

A Breathalyzer test showed Lucas’ blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at .097 — higher than Indiana’s .08 legal limit.

Indiana Rep. Jim Lucas shows high school students his gun during a conversation Tuesday at the Moms Demand Action Advocacy Day.
Video provided by a student who recorded the interaction. See the full 10 minute video and our story at https://t.co/aWhc3I9yNr pic.twitter.com/iW0h0pWEN2

— TheStatehouseFile.com (@StatehouseFile) January 31, 2024