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The Louisiana Radio Network has reported that West Monroe Senator Jay Morris has filed legislation that would allow any Louisiana citizen 21 and older to carry a concealed handgun on their person with no need for a permit.

From what we've learned, eighteen other states have already passed this "Constitutional Carry" law and according to Morris, Louisiana needs to be number nineteen. He says, “We have a constitutional right to keep and bear arms as everyone knows, and the world is, unfortunately, getting more and more dangerous.”

Should the law pass, the "Constitutional Carry" right would not apply to convicted felons and any person deemed legally intoxicated, and though similar to the bill filed by Oil City Representative, Danny McCormick, this one would only apply to citizens 21 and older. McCormick's bill set the minimum age at 18.

According to concealedguns.procon.org:

Concealed handguns increase crime. A 2018 study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded, “There is not even the slightest hint in the data that RTC [right-to-carry] laws reduce violent crime.

Additionally, opposition here in Louisiana state that classes required for the concealed carry permit teach gun owners vital safety lessons.

But Senator Morris makes a very viable argument when he says that forcing people to pay a fee to exercise their rights is a liberty issue.  “I’m not an anarchist, I know we have to have government we have to have rules in society but if a rule is not really necessary we shouldn’t have to have one that infringes on what our forefathers thought was important enough to put in the constitution.”

So, where are you on this one? I'm of the opinion that the person who's set to rob a Circle K or shoot into a crowd probably doesn't have a permit for their concealed weapon, so why should I, as a law abiding citizen, be forced to have one simply to defend myself.

All comments are welcome.

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