Not long after the arrest last week of a Brownsburg teen accused of trying to join the Islamic State, U.S. Senator Joe Donnelly, D-Indiana, met with FBI officials in Indianapolis Monday. Donnelly says the FBI is working hard to protect Hoosiers but didn't give any specifics.
Donnelly says his meeting with the FBI centered on the bureau's counterterrorism efforts, coordination with local law enforcement and what it needs from Congress. But Donnelly provided few details about those efforts or an estimate of the number of homegrown terrorism investigations in Indiana.
"You know, I can tell you that we work very hard on them every single day and work hard to know that we're on our toes on every single one," Donnelly says.
When asked about his stance on gun control issues, Donnelly did get specific.
"I've thought that if you are facing significant mental illness challenges or someone who's a felon, that you shouldn't be able to go to a gun show or to be able to go online and purchase a weapon," he says.
Donnelly says he hopes for a vote on a bipartisan bill, led by Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins, that would restrict gun sales to people on certain terror watch lists.