Indiana Republican drafts bill to require journalists to be 'licensed' after Trump threatens NBC

Indiana Republican state Rep. Jim Lucas (R-Seymour) has drafted a bill that would require journalists in the state to be "licensed" with state police.

According to the Indy Star, Lucas, a staunch gun advocate who hopes to repeal gun permit laws in the state, drafted the bill in protest of gun licensure.

"If you’re okay licensing my second amendment right, what’s wrong with licensing your first amendment right?" Lucas said.

The bill draft, which Lucas posted on social media, is nearly word-for-word a copy of Indiana's gun permit laws that the state representative has unsuccessfully tried to repeal for years, the Star report said. It's currently unclear whether he actually intends to file it.

The Star also noted that Lucas is known for making controversial social media posts, like a pro-gun post he made over the summer that taught women "how not to be a rape victim."

Lucas reportedly drafted the bill earlier this year, and said he is "a year ahead of President Trump," referencing the president's latest threats to "challenge" and try to "revoke" the licenses of national broadcast networks like NBC, whose reporting he does not like.

As Forbes and others have pointed out, those threats are weakened by the fact that the FCC does not license national networks, and only gives out licenses to local broadcasters.