Here’s what to know about LA’s new gun laws
BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - After several years of trial and error, as of today Louisiana is now the 28th state to exercise what’s called constitutional carry. You may have already heard about the new law that allows you to conceal carry a firearm without a concealed carry permit, a firearms instructor tells us he’s excited but concerned.
“The part I’m not as excited about and I think is going to be troublesome is the fact that we’re now allowing citizens to go carry a gun without any training requirements whatsoever,” said Christopher Woosley with Precision Firearms.
Woosley’s thoughts are not uncommon. The bill’s author, Sen. Blake Miguez (R) of New Iberia, says he listened to those concerns and came up with an incentive for folks to get their concealed permits even though it’s no longer required by law.
“It was SB2 in the special crime session, it became Act 2 which gives an extra incentive to those who have a concealed carry permit, a civil immunity under the law if they have to use their firearms unfortunately in a self-defense scenario,” said Sen. Miguez. “If they’re doing everything right, they were not grossly negligent, there were no criminal penalties, it gives them civil immunity from the person who was attacking them and the violent criminal’s family”.
“I think SB2 is the part that we got right in Louisiana, I’m incredibly happy about it because in Louisiana if you use your gun in self-defense as it stands now, you’re getting sued okay it’s gonna happen. Even if nobody files charges against you, even if you’re found not guilty in a criminal trial, there will be a civil trial after that. Okay, SB2 limits your liability in a justifiable case of self-defense,” added Woosley.
The new law only protects you from civil liability from the person you lawfully engage with but not from anyone else who happens to be around you at the time. This means you’re still responsible for wherever your bullets end up going and what they strike. Another new law also allows folks to conceal carry without a permit inside a restaurant that serves alcohol, but still no bars.
“As long as their blood-alcohol content is under .05 they’re allowed to carry in a restaurant but not in a bar. I don’t really have any concerns about that. Concealed carry permit holders have had that right for many years here in Louisiana and I haven’t really seen any problems with people carrying into restaurants,” Woosley continued.
For more information on our state’s concealed carry laws as far as where you’re legally allowed to do so, you can visit www.lsp.org.
Click here to report a typo.
Copyright 2024 WAFB. All rights reserved.
