People in Louisiana would be able to carry hidden firearms without a permit under a bill advanced Tuesday by a House criminal justice panel.
House Bill 131 would eliminate all training and permitting requirements to carry a concealed firearm, provided gun owners are over 18 and aren’t barred from owning one under state or federal law. The House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee advanced Rep. Danny McCormick’s bill on an 8-1 vote, with just committee chairman Rep. Joe Marino of Gretna, an independent, objecting.
Currently, only people 21 or older who receive a permit may carry concealed firearms in Louisiana.
McCormick, an Oil City Republican, has brought what he terms the “Constitutional Carry Bill” to the Legislature repeatedly in recent years without success. Law enforcement interests have fought the bill, a version of which died in the Senate last year following the Uvalde, Texas school shooting.
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2021 vetoed similar legislation that both chambers approved with veto-proof majorities. But when it came to overriding Edwards veto, the Senate couldn’t corral enough votes.
McCormick and the bill’s supporters, which include the National Rifle Association, have pushed the legislation on the basis of a conservative view that the U.S. Constitution gives people the right to carry firearms without permits.
Other supporters told the committee that it would allow gun owners to better protect themselves from armed criminals.
“Basically what you’re trying to do with this bill is you’re trying to get every law abiding citizen in the state of Louisiana the same ability as every criminal does,” Rep. Ray Garofalo, R-Chalmette, said in the hearing. “Every criminal can carry a concealed weapon with no permit, no training, no nothing. …This would give every law-abiding citizen the ability to do the same thing the criminals do.”
A series of what lawmakers describe as more extreme criminal justice bills, including measures to give fentanyl dealers life in prison and release some youth criminal records, have sailed to the House floor through the criminal justice committee, which grew more conservative before the current Legislative session.
Republicans on the committee including Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, voted for McCormick’s bill but said they were uneasy about aspects of the legislation.
“I hear the argument all the time that you can serve your country at 18, but I assure you our 18-year-olds serving the country are very well-trained in handling a weapon,” Horton said.
A series of witnesses spoke against the bill, saying it would imperil domestic violence victims and give poorly-trained gun owners easy access to weapons they might not know how to use.
“Allowing anyone 18 or older who is not prohibited from carrying a firearm under federal or state law to conceal a firearm enhances the already existing danger to the lives of the community and our law enforcement officers,” said Fabian Blache, executive director of the Louisiana Association of Chiefs of Police.
Committee members voting in favor of HB 131:
Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Prairieville
Rep. Kathy Edmonston, R-Gonzales
Rep. Ray Garofalo, R-Chalmette
Rep. Valerie Hodges, R-Denham Springs
Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton
Rep. Nicholas Muscarello, R-Hammond
Rep. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport
Rep. Debbie Villio, R-Kenner
Committee members voting against HB 131:
Rep. Joe Marino, I-Gretna
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