No. These are very different concepts. In Indiana, a License allows a person to carry a handgun or handguns anywhere he or she is lawfully allowed to within the State. The License is indexed to the person: namely, is he or she a “proper person” of “good character and reputation” with a “proper reason” for a License.

If so, upon proper application, the Superintendent of the Indiana State Police shall issue the person a License to Carry a Handgun.

No handgun registration is required under Indiana law. For this reason, a Licensee may carry any handgun he or she lawfully possesses. A gun loaned to a Licensee that is lawfully in the possession of another may be carried. Some states do have registration requirements, but not Indiana.

A third concept that is necessary to understand to follow the law is that a License to Carry a Handgun is different from approval to purchase a new or used firearm that may be given with completion of a ATFE Form 4473.

Fourth, a License is also is not the equal of a federal tax stamp on approved by the DOJ to purchase and/or possess NFA weapons. All of these are different legal concepts with different legal requirements. Failure to understand such is a recipe for disaster by illegal carry of a handgun or other firearm.

Carrying a handgun is a big responsibility that should begin with obtaining a License, followed careful consideration of the law and training with firearms.

Download the Indiana Senate Bill 506 as signed into law by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels.