A Louisiana Senate committee stood with gun rights advocates on Tuesday as it endorsed legislation to bulletproof state protections for firearms owners while beating back proposals to target gun violence.

The results parlayed a big win for gun rights groups during last month’s special crime session, when the Legislature agreed to allow anyone 18 or older to carry a concealed weapon in Louisiana without a permit. Gov. Jeff Landry signed the legislation over the objection of New Orleans officials who argued it would hamstring law enforcement.

On Monday, the Senate Judiciary C committee appeared eager to protect and expand those gains.

The committee endorsed a bill from Sen. Blake Miguez, R-Lafayette, to strengthen Louisiana’s “preemption” statute, which bars local agencies from crafting gun laws that more restrictive than the state’s. The bill also would give municipalities six months to get rid of prohibited local gun laws or face legal action.

Miguez, a champion marksman who authored the permitless concealed carry bill, portrayed it as a way to prevent a patchwork of municipal laws for gun owners.

“They know if they can carry a firearm in this place and can’t carry in this place, it’s the same across the state, and we don’t turn them into criminals for exercising their Second Amendment rights,” Miguez said.

Trey Caruso, New Orleans’ director of state government relations, spoke against the bill, arguing that locals know best.

“We really appreciate the opportunity the Home Rule Charter provides us to govern ourselves as we see fit,” Caruso told the committee, which voted 5-1 to move Miguez’ bill.

The committee took a less generous view as it shelved a bill by Sen. Royce Duplessis, D-New Orleans, to create an office of gun violence prevention in the executive branch. 

And it rejected legislation from Sen. Gary Carter, D-New Orleans, for a “red flag” law, also known as an “extreme risk protection” law, aimed at removing guns from dangerous people.

Carter’s bill would have empowered district attorneys in Louisiana to investigate and request a judge’s order to bar possession or carrying of a firearm for those deemed an imminent danger to themselves or others. Some 20 other states have similar laws, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group. 

“It’s really intended to address suicide. It’s intended to deal with the problem of gun violence in domestic violence situations. It’s also intended to deal with mass shootings,” Carter said. “We have a gun problem, not just here in Louisiana but across our nation.”

Advocates for those laws point to studies showing that the deadliest school shooters frequently displayed violent tendencies beforehand, along with other research showing that such laws help reduce firearms suicides.

But gun rights advocates lined up to pan Carter’s bill, claiming it’s redundant to existing laws, and an attempt to sidestep Second Amendment protections.

Dan Zelenka, president of the Louisiana Shooting Association, called it “unnecessary,” arguing that criminal laws, along with Louisiana’s civil commitment law, reach the same objective.

“This bill … allows the government to take away your right to keep and bear arms,” Zelenka said.

Kelby Seanor, head of the National Rifle Association’s Louisiana chapter, called Carter’s bill “another attempt to push the Biden gun-control agenda at the state level.”

The bill failed to make it out of committee on a 4-1 vote.