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Throwing stars legalized for all Hoosiers under change to bill in House committee

By Brandon Smith, IPB News | Published on in Business, Crime, Government, Politics
Under proposed legislation, throwing stars would be legalized in Indiana and classified as knife weapons. (Volpin Props/Flickr)

Throwing stars would be legal for Hoosiers to own and carry under legislation headed to the House floor.

The bill, SB 77, was significantly expanded in committee.

Throwing stars have been illegal in Indiana since the mid-1980s. Legislation approved by the Senate this year legalized them only for certain businesses – the ax-throwing venues that have become popular wanted to offer throwing stars.

But a House committee went much further, proposing full legalization.

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Joel Wieneke, Indiana Public Defender Council senior staff attorney, said that’s a better solution.

“We would think that it would just be an easier practice to delete the prohibition for throwing stars,” Wieneke said.

The bill now classifies throwing stars as knife weapons – meaning they’d be banned from schools and school buses.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.