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.
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
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. Check back soon
for details and an outline of needed changes.
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. Check back
soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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. Check back
soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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. Check back
soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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. Check
back soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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. Check back
soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
Pertinent Law Here
Problem: Unlike many
other States, Louisiana does not have specific statutes that protect a
tenants right to possess firearms, lease agreements and contract law
notwithstanding. We need to protect the citizens of Louisiana by
making it clear that each person has a right to effective self defense,
regardless of income level or form of tenancy. Check
back soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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. Check
back soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
Problem: Our public
employees are being put at risk by rules prohibiting possession of
lawfully owned weapons contained entirely within their personal vehicles
while at work. Many of the government buildings that these
citizens work at are in precisely the neighborhood where an effective
means of personal protection is especially warranted. We seek to
statutorily protect the rights of our public employees to defend
themselves, as private citizens are able to do. Check
back soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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. Check
back soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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. Check
back soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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.
Check
back soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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.
Check
back soon for details and an outline of
needed changes.
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.