BATON ROUGE, LA. – The Louisiana chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statements in response to Governor Jeff Landry signing legislation to allow permitless carry, which effectively rolls back Louisiana’s foundational gun safety policy that requires Louisianans to receive training and obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public. The bill was passed by both chambers during Louisiana’s special legislative session and will go into effect on July 4.
Permitless carry takes away a vital tool from law enforcement to ensure a person carrying a gun in public isn’t a criminal with a dangerous history. Law enforcement across Louisiana in addition to other states like Ohio, Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, and South Carolina have been vocal opponents of permitless carry legislation. In a press conference last Friday, New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick warned that this legislation will make things more difficult for police and stated: “Let’s say that a citizen who is carrying a gun, gets involved in an event and pulls his or her gun out. Our officers who are responding to that scene, when they arrive, they have no idea who the good guy is and who the bad guy is. All that they’re going to see is a gun.”
“If Governor Landry and Louisiana lawmakers really cared about public safety and protecting law enforcement, they would be fighting to keep guns out of the wrong hands, instead of making it easier for those who shouldn’t have access to guns to obtain and carry them in public,” said Angelle Bradford, a volunteer with the Louisiana chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Governor Landry should have vetoed the deadly permitless carry legislation sent to his desk. Instead, he catered to the gun lobby and reinforced their deadly ‘guns everywhere’ agenda. We shouldn’t have to beg our own Governor to care about the safety of our friends, children, and communities.”
“With the second-highest rate of gun deaths in the country, it’s absolutely outrageous that Louisiana has now signed permitless carry into law,” said Insherah Qazi, a member of the Students Demand Action National Advisory Board. “More guns in more places won’t make anyone safer. It’s because of reckless actions like this that guns are the leading cause of death for my generation. The receipts clearly show that Louisiana’s ‘leadership’ is more interested in catering to the gun lobby’s agenda than protecting its own people.”
This bill was signed into law despite research showing that states that have weakened or eliminated their permit requirements, like Tennessee and Missouri, have experienced a 13-15 percent increase in violent crime rates.
In an average year, 1,125 people die and 2,936 are wounded by guns in Louisiana. Louisiana has the 2nd-highest rate of gun deaths in the US. In Louisiana, 84% of all homicides involve a gun, compared to 78% nationwide. Guns are the leading cause of death among children and teens in Louisiana. If Louisiana had the gun death rate of our National Leaders—the eight states with the strongest gun safety laws—we could save 10,354 lives in the next decade. More information about gun violence in Louisiana is available here.
If you would like to speak to a policy expert or to speak to one of the Students Demand Action or Moms Demand Action volunteers who have fought tirelessly against permitless carry, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
