Pro-Gun Bills Head to Governor’s Desk

Urge Governor John Bel Edward to Honor his Commitment to the Second Amendment

With House Bill No. 140 moving forward without the anti-gun amendment introduced by Senator Gary Smith (D-Dist. 19), a total of four pro-gun bills will now be sent to Governor John Bel Edwards.

This past Sunday, the House rejected Senator Smith’s amendment to HB140, which hijacked a good bill meant to strengthen Louisiana’s preemption law, and sent it to a conference committee comprising members of both the House and the Senate that agreed to move the bill forward as it was originally written when it passed the House. HB140 was then sent back to the House and the Senate where it passed with over seventy-five percent of the vote in both houses.

(Thank you to everyone who took the time to contact their representative to urge them to reject Senator Smith’s anti-gun amendment!)

Now HB140, along with HB334, HB746, and HB781, will head to the Governor’s desk to either be signed into law or vetoed.

Governor John Bel Edwards became governor, and narrowly won re-election, based in part on a message of being a “pro-gun” Democrat. The Governor has not had much of a chance over the past five years to demonstrate his commitment to the Second Amendment; however, these four pro-gun bills provide the Governor an excellent opportunity to demonstrate just how “pro-gun” he actually is.

As such, I ask that you please contact Governor John Bel Edwards and urge him to honor his support for the Second Amendment, and the individual rights of all Louisianians, by signing into law the following pro-gun bills:

House Bill No. 140, by Rep. Blake Miguez (R) Dist. 49, strengthens Louisiana’s firearm preemption law by further limiting the authority of parish and local governments to prohibit the possession of a weapon or firearm to those places where a concealed handgun permit holder is already prohibited from carrying a concealed handgun. (These specific locations are identified in the concealed handgun permit statute R.S. 40:1379.3(N).)

House Bill No. 334, by Rep. Bryan Fontenot (R) Dist. 55, amends the present law prohibition on the carrying of a concealed handgun by a concealed handgun permit holder in a church, synagogue, mosque, or other similar place of worship by providing that the carrying of a concealed handgun in such places is allowed if authorized by the person who has authority over the administration of the church, synagogue, mosque, or other similar place of worship.

House Bill No.  746, by Rep. Ray Garofalo (R) Dist. 103, creates an exception to the illegal carrying of weapons by allowing any person who can lawfully possess a firearm to carry a concealed firearm during a mandatory evacuation in a declared state of emergency or disaster.

House Bill No. 781, by Rep. Blake Miguez (R) Dist. 49, removes the authority of executive and chief law enforcement officers to regulate the manufacture, sale, and possession of firearms or ammunition during a declared emergency or disaster, or public health emergency.