After reading The Statehouse File’s latest follow-up article about his viral gun flash video, Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, said he “hates that the girls are catching quite a bit of grief.”

Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, in a file photo.  Photo by Eddie Drews, TheStatehouseFile.com.

Lucas contacted The Statehouse File to say he is displeased the students are receiving negative comments and that he has offered to pay for a gun safety course for them and their families.

“I’ve made arrangements for those young ladies and their immediate families to take a free firearm safety course, taught by a certified female firearms instructor at a facility in their hometown of Muncie,” Lucas said. “And I’ll pay for it. The girls mentioned [in the article] they’re focused on how to continue to advocate for gun safety. I don’t think that there’s anything that could do that better than this.”

Makynna Fivecoats, 17, who recorded the video, and Alana Trissel, 18, who can be seen in the video, both attend Burris Laboratory School in Muncie. They, along with groups of students from across Indiana, attended an Advocacy Day in January hosted by Moms Demand Action to listen to speeches and meet with lawmakers.

As the Burris group was leaving, Lucas started a conversation in an elevator. He asked them to step out, and they engaged in a passionate debate about gun laws, gun safety and school shootings. During the interaction, Lucas lifted his jacket and showed the handgun he had holstered at his side. The video of the conversation, which ended abruptly with Lucas walking away, led to nationwide media attention from The Washington Post to AP News, Teen Vogue, Vanity Fairand even a Turkish news site.

Fivecoats said she appreciated Lucas’ respectfulness and his offer of a gun safety course, but she isn’t interested in taking him up on his offer.

“My parents own a gun. My grandfather sells them. It’s not that I’m scared of guns because I don’t know how to use them. I don’t fear them just because they are guns,” Fivecoats said.

Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, opened his coat and flashed a handgun to a group of high school students at the Indiana Statehouse after Moms Demand Action Advocacy Day.   Screenshot by Kyra Howard, TheStatehouseFile.com.

“I have no interest in shooting a gun. People who don’t want to have guns should be able to live with people who do, that’s my point. If you want to carry a gun, more power to you, but just because I don’t doesn’t mean my life should be in jeopardy. Some of the laws we have mentioned will help this. It’s all trial and error—if it doesn’t help? We’ll pass a new one.”

Julia Chester, Indiana Moms Demand Action co-chapter leader, responded to news of Lucas’ offer by restating that her organization is not anti-gun.

“We would encourage training for sure. But what we’re against, in general, is the normalization of guns everywhere, and that’s a cultural thing,” Chester said. “That’s what Jim Lucas is doing. He’s trying to normalize guns everywhere and trying to force it onto people who don’t want to carry a gun.”

She added that Moms Demand Action advocates for “gun sense” by promoting bills like House Bill 1325, which would require those caring for dependents to securely store loaded firearms, and House Bill 1318, which would create a tax credit for those who purchase safe firearm storage items. Both bills died in committee.

The video drew negative comments from both sides of the debate online. Some targeted the minors, particularly for discussing their emotions around the topic.

One X user posted, “These weak, sunken-chested, frappuccino-drinking beta people are impervious to logic and why arguing with them is a waste of time. They are driven by emotion, not reason.” Another said, “Bitch, no one gives a f*** about how you feel. He is allowed to carry. I’m gonna buy another carry gun today just to spite these red shirt pieces of shit women.”

Some comments targeting the students were left on Lucas’ personal Facebook page. He said he had not removed them because he cannot monitor and respond to everything that gets posted. But he called out the negativity.

“When I read that these young ladies were being attacked from … across the nation, and if this is going global, I want to defend and stand up for their rights and express their belief,” Lucas said. “I mean, that’s not right, that they’re being attacked the way they are.

“Should I’ve shown them [the gun]? Based on the reaction we’re getting and the fact that this has gone viral globally, no. But should they be that fearful of somebody exercising their constitutional right? Absolutely not, which is why I want to help educate them so they stop living in fear. There are good people out there that carry, and the facts show that. It’s just I don’t think they’ve been exposed to that type of thinking.”

Chester also stood up for the students and said no lawmaker should talk in a “condescending” way to constituents.

“We don’t need you to educate us about something that these students are living every day of their lives when they go to school,” Chester said. “We are there to talk with legislators, and we present them with data and facts that show there needs to be more regulation around guns.”

Some online criticism also targeted Lucas, calling him a “societal stain” and saying he is a “monster for flashing a gun at kids concerned about gun violence.” Another said, “Time for removal of Lucas. I support the 2nd Amendment but flashing a gun in front of minors is totally unacceptable.”

Despite the criticism, Lucas said he has felt “incredibly” supported since the media attention.

He said he handles the negativity by “praying to God a lot.” He added he feels his fellow lawmakers, like House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers have been supportive.

“I think this situation has brought unnecessary and unwarranted and unwanted attention to all the great things we’re doing up there. And I agree with him [Huston] because this should never have gotten to this point,” Lucas said. “And Speaker Huston is doing a great job of leading people that are offering great pieces of legislation. It is a shame that this is detracting from it. And I hope it can stop as soon as possible.”

He added: “I will join up with these young ladies and Moms Demand Action to promote firearm safety and educate people in the proper handling and storage and use of a firearm. I would love to do that. But anything that would infringe the rights of an innocent person to have or carry a firearm is a non-starter with me.”

Fivecoats reiterated that her main concern is responsible gun use, not carrying guns.

“So no, I’m not ‘indoctrinated,’ and I wasn’t brought up to fear guns. I just choose to fight for people to be smart about having them,” she said. “I know plenty of wonderful people who own guns—they also own them responsibly. So once again, if you want to have a gun that’s wonderful, but don’t make it so I have to have one too in order to live.”

FOOTNOTE:  Kyra Howard is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.Â