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Louisiana Carry's index of several needed changes to Louisiana law as it relates to firearms and self defense.Problem: Our Concealed Handgun Permits are not recognized by the BATFE as valid for the purposes of exemption from a Brady background check. This could be easily fixed. Click Here for details and an outline of needed changes.
Problem: Louisiana prohibits firearms in any commercial establishment in which alcoholic beverages of either high or low alcoholic content are sold in individual servings for consumption on the premises. A Concealed handgun permit is being treated as an exemption from this law, but the wording of the law is ambiguous, and needs attention. This is in direct violation of Article 1, Section 11 of our own State Constitution. Click Here for details and an outline of needed changes. Pertinent Law Here
Problem: You are consenting to a search WITHOUT PROBABLE CAUSE whenever you enter any commercial establishment in which alcoholic beverages of either high or low alcoholic content are sold in individual servings for consumption on the premises, if that is a majority of their business. This means that, by Louisiana law, you have little to no Fourth Amendment Rights in many dining establishments in Louisiana! This is also in direct violation of Article 1, Section 5 of our own State Constitution. Pertinent Law Here
Problem: Even with a Concealed Handgun Permit, you can still be charged for Illegally Carrying of a Weapon if you have a defensive knife (or other defensive object) on your person (based on the officer's discretion). Carrying a good knife is almost a given for most adult males in Louisiana. Even though this fact does not seem to be being abused currently, it is making potential criminals out of otherwise law-abiding citizens who have knives or other objects that could be used as weapons. For this reason, we recommend changing our permits to a concealed weapons permit, as many other states have done.
Problem: Many localities have ordinances & signs prohibiting weapons in parks and other outdoor areas. This is against the law! We intend to legally and aggressively pursue the removal of all these restrictions. Pertinent Law Here
Problem: Our State law pre-empts any political subdivision (read: parishes and towns) from passing laws that are more restrictive than state gun laws. The law excepts the following areas: 1) certain commercial establishments, 2) public buildings, 3) laws enacted before July 15, 1985. We would like to get any and all of those exceptions removed, or at the very least, narrowly defined. Pertinent Law Here
Problem: There are still a number of States that issue concealed carry permits that do not honor Louisiana's permits. We intend to work with those states and our officials to get full recognition of our permits, and to honor permits from as many States as possible.
Problem: Our "firearm free zone" is putting many children and adult students at risk! Not only is it a sign to criminals that they can commit mass murders without any fear of return fire at public schools for children- this laws ALSO COVERS SECONDARY AND TECHNICAL COLLEGES! That means, for many law-abiding adults seeking to further their education (many in high-crime metropolitan areas)- they are defenseless going to, from, and while at classes. Citizens should not have to take their life in their own hands in order to get an education. At a MINIMUM, our handgun permits should exempt citizens from the firearm-free zoning, so that people who have passed extensive background checks can defend themselves. Pertinent Law Here
Problem: Unlike many other States, Louisiana does not have a statutory standard by which businesses may post signs preventing entry with a weapon. We at Louisiana Carry respect the rights of property owners to put into place rules regarding conduct in their own establishments, but law abiding citizens are put in legal peril when 'No Weapons' signage is obscurely posted. In order for said signage to have the force of law, we need to proscribe the manner in which it is posted. This measure is intended to prevent gun owners from fraudulent charges from being brought against them, in the event of a legally armed citizen inadvertently being on premises where they were unaware that weapons were prohibited. Minnesota has an excellent statutory example of a solution to this issue. MN statute here (pertinent section beginning with Subd. 17)
Problem: Currently, our Concealed Handgun Permit laws provide for the prohibition of lawfully owned concealed weapons from places of worship. This is putting many responsible citizens in a position of defenselessness, and advertising to criminals that the churches in our state are "defense free crime zones". This is not only a self-defense issue, it is a property rights issue. Morally, it is the decision of each individual place of worship whether or not to prohibit weapons on their premises. Aggravated batteries (violent crimes) are not unheard of in churches in our nation, and it is time to provide law abiding citizens with the legal right to defend themselves while attending their chosen place of worship.
Problem: Unlike many other States, Louisiana requires several affidavits (separate from the primary permit application) to be notarized by a ex-officio notary before a permit can be issued. These forms may have been a good idea when they were enacted years ago, but time has shown that the need for them may have been overstated. Optimally, the information presented in these documents should be incorporated in the primary CHP application, but at a minimum we need to condense these down to one separate form. Many ex-officio notaries charge around $15.00 for their services, so we are unnecessarily inflating the cost of our permits by as much as $45.00 or more for our residents.
Problem: Louisiana charges applicants who have resided in other States in the past fifteen years, in order to fund a search into the State records of the States that the applicant resided in during that time. Prior to the construction of the NICS database, there may have been a need for this provision, but since those records are now contained in a centralized database, performing a NICS check (free) precludes us from being able to justify inflating the permit cost for this purpose.
Problem: Louisiana maintains a registry of all legally owned Class 3 firearms. History has shown us that the only effective purpose for a firearm registry is to facilitate possible future weapon confiscation. This registry needs to be abolished and destroyed.
There are more changes that we are working to outline. Please check back soon, or join our mailing list, and we will update you personally when we have more details.
