VICTIM: 'NO REASON TO CARRY A GUN' (PROP B: HIT OR MISS?) (SECOND IN A SERIES)

Kelli McCormack Brown's left hand still aches at times, the result of an accidental shooting.

An associate professor at the University of South Florida, Brown was wounded in an incident at a Planet Hollywood restaurant in Indianapolis.

On Nov. 10, 1997, she and another woman, Dawn Larsen of Mankato, Minn., were both struck by a bullet fired from a .32-caliber Derringer. The gun went off after it dropped out of a restaurant patron's pocket.

The gun owner, Thomas Neuman of Indianapolis, had a permit to carry the concealed weapon. No charges were filed against him.

Both Brown and the other injured woman were in Indianapolis for a conference at the time of the shooting.

Brown said permit holders shouldn't be allowed to carry concealed guns without some firearms training.

"I think that is real important," she said. Gun owners should have locks on their guns so they don't discharge accidentally, Brown said.

Indiana has allowed residents to carry concealed weapons since 1925. Persons as young as 18 can qualify and no training is required.

About 300,000 people in Indiana or 5 percent of the population currently are licensed to carry concealed guns.

Indiana has revoked or suspended over 1,000 permits over the last four years for various violations.

Maj. Karen Butt commands the records division of the Indiana State Police.

"There are always incidents of people misusing firearms," she said.

Such crimes could occur even if permit holders were required to pass handgun safety courses, Butt said.

Indiana requires permit applicants to get fingerprinted and undergo criminal background checks.

The state won't grant permits to convicted felons and those who have been judged mentally incompetent or are drug or alcohol abusers.

A person denied a permit can appeal. "A lot of times those are overturned in appeals," said Butt.

A person charged but not convicted of a murder can secure a license, under Indiana's law.

Joseph Corcoran of Fort Wayne is a case in point.

He was acquitted in 1992 of killing his parents. Four years later, he was granted a license to carry a concealed weapon.

In 1997, he was charged with murdering four people in Fort Wayne. He currently is awaiting trial.

None of this makes Brown feel better about concealed-weapons laws.

If she were a Missouri resident, Brown she would vote against Proposition B, the concealed weapons measure on the April ballot, she said.

Brown lives in a concealed-weapons state. Florida has allowed residents to carry concealed weapons since 1987.

"I feel less safe," she said. Brown believes concealed weapons increase the risk of violence.

"I don't see any reason to carry a gun," she said.