On Tuesday, Indiana state Rep. Jim Lucas flashed his holstered handgun while discussing gun violence with teenagers at the Statehouse, according to a video of the incident. The video, obtained by TheStatehouseFile.com, was filmed by one of the teenagers, who were there as members of Students Demand Action, a pro-gun-control organization.
In the video, after one teenager refers to Australia’s stringent gun laws, Lucas responds by saying that Australians “are not free” and then opens his jacket to reveal a handgun in a holster. “I’m carrying right now,” he said.
“See, and nothing about that makes me feel safe, though,” replies another teenager. Lucas asks for clarification of what the teenager said, and they respond, “Nothing about someone carrying a gun makes me feel safe. It makes me feel threatened.”
“Okay, those are feelings,” Lucas responded. “I’m talking facts, I’m talking facts.”
Lucas’ bizarre display of machismo falls in line with bullying behavior we have seen from conservatives over the years. In July 2023, Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin “yelled and cursed at a group of high-school-aged Senate pages while giving a late-night tour of the U.S. Capitol,” according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Van Orden was angry that these teen pages were lying down to take photos of the Capitol Rotunda dome during their final week of work.
That wasn’t the first time Van Orden got loud and aggressive with someone far younger than him. In 2021, Van Orden allegedly “confronted” and threatened a teenage library staffer who had set up a display of LGBTQ+ books during Pride Month.
“His voice was loud, he was aggressive, he had his finger jabbing into (the book) constantly,” Trautsch said. She described the situation as “very uncomfortable, threatening.”
Van Orden repeatedly demanded to know who set up the display so he could “teach them a lesson,” she said. She had set up the display but was too afraid of him to tell him, she said.
“He was full-on shouting at this point and he kept aggressively shoving the books around,” she said.
But strange aggression around teenagers is not the only desperate and pathetic example of conservatives showing off their masculine bona fides. On Wednesday, Politico reported that the Capitol Visitor Center sent an email to the House sergeant-at-arms accusing Republican Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia of “unsafe actions.” McCormick seems to have been on a tour of the Capitol’s dome on Tuesday when he decided to trespass into a clearly unpermitted area, while his staff filmed him, in order to pretend to fall and then do “pull-ups” on a railing suspended more than 200 feet in the air.
A spokesperson for McCormick told Politico that “There was a miscommunication and we have apologized.” What was the “miscommunication,” I wonder? Thinking anyone older than 12 would believe doing that was cool?
Remember this weird bit of business?
As for the teens involved in the alarming interaction with Lucas, 17-year-old Makynna Fivecoats told TheStatehouseFile.com, “My heart sank to my stomach. I genuinely felt very unsafe in that moment. And I really just wanted the conversation to kind of end after that. It kind of, almost, felt like a threat to me. I want to say that's not how he meant it, but when you show someone that you have a gun on you, there's no way really other to mean (anything) besides a threat.”
It was less than a year ago that Lucas was apologizing and throwing himself on the mercy of the court for his drunk driving arrest.
The vehicle Lucas was driving is alleged to have traveled nearly 200 feet toward the northbound lanes of the highway before it crashed into a guardrail, rocketed across two lanes of pavement and hit another guardrail on the inside northbound lanes.
ISP said Lucas allegedly shifted his car back onto SR 11 to head in the direction of Seymour. The vehicle was found with three blown tires nearly three miles from the location of the crash. Responding authorities arrested Lucas after he was found walking at SR 11 and Redding Road.
But it gets even better, according to Fox 59:
According to the report, the Tundra had extensive front end damage to the grill and bumper. The front driver side and rear passenger side tires were completely gone, police reported, with the rims damaged and worn from being driven on for a long distance. The front passenger side tire was blown out, but still attached to the wheel.
Lucas reportedly told state troopers that after crashing he continued to drive down State Road 11 because he thought he could make it home, despite three flat tires.
Does that sound like someone who should be carrying a gun around in public?
Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl released a statement addressing the video and the GOP’s gun fetish, saying, “Indiana Republicans seemingly have enough time to belittle and intimidate high school students in between passing laws defunding the police, expanding child labor, and helping the gun lobby get off in court. This supermajority puts the interests of the gun lobby over those of our local governments, and even the safety of Hoosier students. It’s wrong, and it’s time to check their power at the ballot box in November. Indiana Republicans say laws can’t stop gun violence. They have no plan to stop gun violence because they do not believe it is possible. We all deserve an Indiana where students – and everyone in our communities – feel safe and gun-owning Hoosiers can do so safely and responsibly.”
Lucas responded to the situation on Facebook, writing, “I fear for, and pity those that are being indoctrinated to fear that which is their best means of self defense. 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.”
He hashtagged his statement “truthfactsreasonlogic,” and I’m hashtagging my #eyeballsrollingoutofmyhead.
It is primary season, and Donald Trump seems pretty low energy these days. Kerry and Markos talk about the chances of Trump stumbling through the election season and the need to press our advantage and make gains in the House and Senate. Meanwhile, the right-wing media world is losing its collective minds about Taylor Swift registering younger Americans to vote!
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