Members of the Jackson/Brown County Indiana 2A United group recently got together for a reading of the Constitution.
That event took place Saturday at the Jackson County Courthouse in Brownstown.
After an opening statement from retired Medora High School teacher Pat Bahan, members of the group began reading the Constitution. The group of Second Amendment supporters, who have asked local officials to support their efforts in making Jackson County a “sanctuary” to protect the people’s right to bear arms, started with the preamble and ended with the final amendment.
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Bahan said he was really pleased with the presentation of the event and the participation of a few local children.
“It was wonderful,” he said.
“I’m a liberal, but there are things I hold a strong opinion of, and one of them is my Constitution,” he said. “As a veteran, I swore at 18 years old to preserve, protect and defend that constitution. Every time I renewed my teaching license and my principal’s license, I swore to preserve, protect and defend that Constitution.”
One of the younger speakers mentioned by Bahan was Talon Fish, a 12-year-old Brownstown Central Middle School student. Fish is the younger brother of Jack Fish, one of the event’s organizers and an administrator of the group’s Facebook page.
Jack Fish, 24, who lives in Seymour, also felt the event was a success.
“Fairly satisfied with the turnout,” he said. “We had around 50 people, give or take a few, which given the weather we’re having and being a small community, it was really great.”
Throughout the event, speakers, including Fish, made it a point to mention they would not be providing any interpretations of the Constitution and would just be reading them as they are.
Jack Fish said that’s because of how common it is for people to misconstrue what is there.
“You get a lot of people that want to interpret the Constitution and misconstrue things, so being a public event and everything, we aren’t trying to voice our opinions on it,” he said. “We’re trying to educate the public on exactly what the Constitution says, not what my opinion or anyone else’s opinion is.”
Fish also spoke about the importance of the Constitution to him.
“This means everything. This is what keeps our communities together and our whole nation for that matter,” he said. “Our entire nation is built on the Constitution and what it means to the entire nation. It should mean everything to everyone. These are our rights and liberties, and they shouldn’t be infringed upon.”
Other speakers at the event included state District 69 Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, and county Commissioner Bob Gillaspy, who both voiced their support for not only the Second Amendment but the group itself. Lucas also read a letter of support from state District 44 Sen. Eric Koch, R-Bedford.
Lucas commended the group on how well the event was put together.
“I thought they did a good job,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize how much planning goes into something like that. It’s difficult to get a good turnout with weather like that.”
The group was created after a controversial bill was proposed in Virginia that would restrict someone’s ability to own a firearm, including the potential of having weapons seized if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others.
Members felt this bill infringed on the rights granted to them by the Second Amendment, and they feared something similar could make its way to Indiana. They felt a Facebook group such as this one was a good way to rally together the support of their community. Their page currently has 1,200 members on the platform.