Less than a year after Louisiana agreed to let people carry concealed weapons in public without a permit, bills are now moving through the state Legislature to allow more people to have concealed guns close to schools and along parade routes.

On the Fourth of July, constitutional carry — a term favored by gun rights advocates referring to the Second Amendment right to bear arms — became law in Louisiana.

Last year, lawmakers also strengthened the state’s preemption of any local gun laws that were more restrictive, prohibiting the enforcement of those ordinances and declaring them null and void.

Now, people 18 or older can carry a gun in many public places either openly or concealed, so long as they aren’t otherwise prohibited by federal or state law from having a firearm, for example, due to felony or domestic violence convictions.

Under the state’s gun-free school zone law, however, a Louisiana concealed carry permit is still needed to have a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.

That could change with a bill sponsored by Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, who for years has championed gun-rights legislation, including last year’s permitless carry law.

Anyone legally allowed to carry a gun, including those without permits, would be able to do so up to a school’s property line under Senate Bill 101. 

Miguez said that when he brought the constitutional carry bill last year, he committed to ensuring consistency across Louisiana’s gun laws for those who carry under the new constitutional carry provision, those with a Louisiana permit, and those with recognized permits from another state.

“I want one set of rules that treats law-abiding citizens fairly, not creating a patchwork of laws,” he said in an interview. “We never want a law-abiding citizen criminalized because of some complication in the law that they weren’t aware of.”

Another measure would clarify that laws restricting concealed carry at parades only apply to those actually in the parade, not those watching.

The proposals come after state and New Orleans officials last year clashed over the city’s efforts to establish a firearm-free school zone in the city’s French Quarter to skirt the state’s relaxation of gun regulations.

Leatrice Dupre, a spokesperson for Mayor LaToya Cantrell, said that the city “recognizes the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; however, the city does not agree with the idea that more guns on the street will necessarily make people safer.”

Gun-free school zones

During a public vetting of Senate Bill 101 at a committee meeting this month, Miguez said that reducing restrictions on carrying concealed firearms within 1,000 feet of a school is about bringing consistency to Louisiana’s gun laws.

“This allows individuals who are carrying, by constitutional carry, the same rights as those who carry with a permit within a thousand foot of a school zone,” he said. “It does not allow an individual any additional rights to carry on school property.”

Dan Zelenka, president of Louisiana Shooting Association, noted that those who have concealed carry permits from other states recognized as valid through reciprocity agreements aren’t allowed to carry a gun within the 1,000-foot gun-free school zone.

“The reason this is a big deal is that a thousand feet from a school property line is three blocks, and if you were to accidentally carry within those three blocks, you can be charged with a felony,” he said.

Kelby Seanor, the National Rifle Association’s state director, echoed that concern.

“We simply just don’t want law-abiding gun owners to get ensnared with a felony,” he told lawmakers.

Rafael Goyeneche, president of the Metropolitan Crime Commission in New Orleans, said that the proposals to roll back restrictions in school zones pose a major safety threat.

“For every one example of a firearm preventing a crime from occurring there are going to be multiple examples of a bad outcome with a firearm in those areas — that’s why those laws were passed,” Goyeneche said. “It’s really commonsensical and it’s really a fundamental public safety issue.”

The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education declined to comment on the legislation, and the Louisiana School Boards Association did not respond to a request for comment.

The bill would also remove privately owned vocational-technical schools from the list of schools where guns are prohibited.

“They just get to decide on their own whether they want to restrict guns or they don’t want to restrict guns,” Miguez said, calling it a matter of property rights.

Guns at parades

Louisiana law includes a list of several places into which “no concealed handgun may be carried.” Among those are parades and demonstrations being held with a government permit.

The language has led to conflict over whether it is against the law for parade spectators to carry firearms or whether the law is a prohibition aimed at people directly participating in parades.

Rep. Dennis Bamburg Jr., R-Bossier City, said legislation he is sponsoring is meant to address that confusion.

“This is a badly needed cleanup bill,” he said of House Bill 393 during a public hearing on the measure. “It just basically clarifies in law that you cannot carry if you’re an active participant in a parade or a demonstration, but this shall not apply to a bystander or spectator who attends a parade.”

But Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans, questioned the logic of the law.

“It seems backwards to me,” Knox said. “In all transparency, I would want to carry a gun if I’m riding in a float rather than being defenseless to a bystander at a parade who can carry a gun. That’s where I’m confused.”

Over the years, a number of attempts have been made to ban firearms at parades, including 2009 legislation to ban guns within 1,000 feet of a parade, which was vetoed by then Gov. Bobby Jindal at the request of the NRA.

Last year, a bill sponsored by Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans, would have specifically outlawed carrying a gun along parade routes without a concealed carry permit, but the proposal failed to clear even one chamber of the Legislature.

Bobby Hjortsberg, captain of the Krewe of Freret, said he believes it would be a major risk to allow guns on parade routes.

“Considering those people are under the influence, it’s just not an environment for someone to have a gun,” Hjortsberg said. He also questioned the logic of distinguishing between paradegoers and participants.

“I can’t understand why they would try to distinguish those kinds of things — that’s basically saying the people who are in charge aren’t allowed to be armed and the people who are attending can?” he said.

Carrying a concealed firearm while intoxicated is illegal under state law.

What happened last year?

In New Orleans, local officials, including City Council member Helena Moreno, Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick and District Attorney Jason Williams had pleaded with legislators to carve out the crowded and bar-filled French Quarter from permitless carry law, arguing that it would put police in danger and block their efforts to seize illegal guns.

Those requests were rejected. Miguez at the time downplayed critics’ concerns by noting that other restrictions were still intact.

As the law came into effect in July, local officials set about using the school-zone exception: They announced a plan to designate the New Orleans Police Department’s Eighth District station as a vocational technical school in order to create a gun-free zone in the 1,000-foot radius around it — including blocks bounded by Canal and Toulouse Street and a large stretch of Bourbon Street.

That plan quickly hit roadblocks when Attorney General Liz Murrill derided the city’s designation as “clearly not legal or effective” and warned that the city could face civil rights lawsuits if it arrested people based on it.

Miguez also promised to reverse officials’ efforts to create a gun-free zone in the French Quarter if they were successful.

“The message is very clear to the locals in New Orleans that don’t necessarily respect individuals’ Second Amendment rights: that it’s going to be a losing battle,” Miguez said in September. “We’ll strengthen that law to close any gaps. That’s not something, if I were them, I would be wasting my time on.”

In Lafayette, a similar attempt to seek the designation around the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s downtown science museum, on property owned by the parish government, failed amid pushback from Murrill and Miguez in August. The university instead designated the museum as a weapons-free facility.

Karen Boudrie, a spokesperson for the New Orleans Police Department, declined to comment on this year’s proposed legislation.

Kirkpatrick called repeatedly last year for the French Quarter to be excluded from the permitless concealed carry law, and said she planned to continue pushing for that change with legislators. It is unclear whether any local New Orleans officials made efforts to push for gun restrictions during the current legislative session.