Archives for April 2018

If you have been waiting for the right day to come to the Capitol, the day has arrived. On Tuesday, April 17, 2018 seven over-reaching anti-gun bills will be heard, and one really good pro-gun bill will be heard. WE NEED THE TROOPS TO SHOW UP IN LARGE NUMBERS! If you can take off work, this is the day to do it. If you are a K-12 teacher, we need your support for Rep. Blake MIGUEZ’s bill. The Michael Bloomberg backed Mothers Demand Action will show up and tell us how terrible it is for teachers to be able to protect their children in the event of an attack. It is complete irrational nonsense and we need pro-gun teachers there to refute their claims.

House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee
Tuesday, April 17, 8:30 AM Committee Room 6

OPPOSE: HB277 by Rep. Denise Marcelle (D-61) Prohibits the sale of assault rifles to any person under the age of twenty-one years.

OPPOSE: HB400 by Rep. John Bagneris (D-100) – Creates the crime of illegally purchasing or selling a firearm according to criminal defense lawyers from Mineola area. Note that Rep. Bagneris recently said during testimony that he would like to see the “antiquated Second Amendment repealed.”

OPPOSE: HB473 by Rep. Patricia Smith (D-67) – Prohibits the importation, manufacture, sale, purchase, possession, or transfer of a rapid-fire device.

OPPOSE: HB736 by Rep. Terry Landry (D-96) – Provides relative to the possession, transfer, registration, license to possess, and surrender of an assault weapon

OPPOSE: HB852 by Rep. Gary Carter (D-102) – Creates the crime of illegally purchasing or selling a firearm

SUPPORT: HB602 by Rep. Blake Miguez (R-49) – Provides relative to the carrying of a concealed handgun at a school

Call these Legislators Today and Tell them:

“SUPPORT GUN RIGHTS. VOTE NO ON ALL GUN CONTROL BILLS.”

Click here to email these Representatives

Sherman Mack, (R, Albany)
(225) 567-3677

Steve Pylant (R, Winnsoboro)
(318) 435-7313

Tony Bacala (R, Prairieville)
(225) 677-8020

Raymond Crews (R, Bossier City)
(318) 716-7532

Stephen Dwight (R, Lake Charles)
(337) 491-2315

Lowell “Chris” Hazel (R, Pineville)
(318-767-6082

Valarie Hodges (R, Denham Springs)
(225) 791-2199

Frank Howard (R, Many)
(318) 256-4135

Joseph Marino (I, Gretna)
(504) 361-6013

John Stefanski (R, Crowley)
(337) 384-8999

Senate Judiciary B Committee
Tuesday, April 17, 2018, 2:30 PM Committee Room E

OPPOSE: SB185, by Sen. Wesley Bishop (D-4), would allow counties and local municipalities throughout the state to pass their own gun control laws, creating a patchwork of different laws from parish to parish or city to city. It eliminates the authority of state laws over local ordinances and regulations. Firearm preemption laws ensure that fundamental rights are not diluted or distorted through local ordinances and prevents a confusing patchwork of regulations that make it difficult for otherwise law-abiding citizens to follow the law. Further, citizens in one city deserve the same rights and powers as citizens in the neighboring town

As early as Monday, SB491 is expected to be considered on the Senate Floor (see below for details). This bill was allowed out of this very committee when Senate Judiciary B Committee Chairman Sen. Gary Smith chose not to vote on the bill. You may contact Sen. Smith by calling him AND by emailing him to tell him your opinion of his decision. Thanks to Sen. Smith, we now have to defeat this bad bill on the Senate floor.

Please call each committee member and ask them to VOTE NO ON SB185.
Senator Gary Smith (Chairman)
Norco, LA
(985) 764-9122
smithgl@legis.la.gov

Senator Ronnie Johns (Vice-Chairman)
Lake Charles, LA
(337) 491-2016
johnsr@legis.la.gov

Senator Norbèrt N. “Norby” Chabert
Houma, LA
(985) 858-2927
chabertn@legis.la.gov

Senator Eric LaFleur
Ville Platte, LA
(337) 363-5019
(877) 396-4600
lafleure@legis.la.gov

Senator Jean-Paul J. Morrell
New Orleans, LA
(504) 284-4794
morrelljp@legis.la.gov

Senator Karen Carter Peterson
New Orleans, LA
(504) 568-8346
petersonk@legis.la.gov

Senator Gregory Tarver
Shreveport, LA
(318) 227-1499
tarverg@legis.la.gov

We cannot afford to lose even one Republican vote on these committees. We MUST flood them with requests to SUPPORT GUN RIGHTS. VOTE NO ON ALL GUN CONTROL BILLS!

Update on Other Anti-Gun Bills

OPPOSED BY LSA: As early as Monday, SB491 is expected to be considered on the Senate Floor. Please contact your state Senator and urge them to OPPOSE SB491 when it comes up for a vote. SB491, by Sen. Troy Carter (D-7), bans the importation, manufacture, sale, purchase, possession, or transfer of bump stocks and other “rapid-fire” devices. The broad and overreaching language could potentially criminalize firearm modifications such as competition triggers, and ergonomic changes that are commonly done by law-abiding gun owners to make their firearms more suitable for self-defense, competition, hunting, or even overcoming disability. Please contact your state Senator at 225-342-2040 and urge them to vote against SB491. To locate who represents you, please click here.

OPPOSED BY LSA: SB155 (Troy Carter, D) Prohibits the sale of weapons to any person under the age of twenty-one. The bill was voluntarily deferred by the author at the Judiciary C Committee.

OPPOSED BY LSA: SB274 (Troy Carter, D) Prohibits sale of “assault weapons” to any person under the age of twenty-one. The bill passed out of the Judiciary C Committee on a vote of 4 to 3. The bill was heard in the Senate and was defeated by a vote of 9 Yeas to 26 Nays. Mr. Carter asked to have the Senate reconsider the bill.

Today, LSA President Dan Zelenka sent this email to all State Senators. But, it’s not enough. You MUST call your State Senator today and ask them to vote NO on SB274!

The Michael Bloomberg-backed Mothers Demand Action sent members to cry in front of the Judiciary C Committee explaining how they were afraid to leave the house. They are organized and attacking your rights! Apparently, it worked, because the bill made it out of the committee and onto the Senate floor.

Today, please find your State Senator and call them. You can find them by clicking here. Follow up with an email.

Say, “Please vote NO on SB274”

Dear Senator:

As the president of the Louisiana Shooting Association, I am writing to you on behalf of myself, the association and its members to request that you vote NO with respect to Senate Bill 274, which will be before the Senate on Monday, April 9, 2018.

Senate Bill 274 seeks to prohibit the sale of any “assault weapon” to any person under the age of twenty-one years of age. Under the Civil Code, a person who has reached the age of 18 is an adult with all of the rights provided under our constitution. Raising the age from 18 years of to 21 years old affects the constitutional rights of over 185,000 law abiding Louisiana adults. Under current law, these adults have the right to vote, marry, contract, join the military and purchase firearms. Many live on their own, including those who are married or are single parents. Some are even military veterans.

In addition, the term “assault weapon” is both over used and under defined. It isn’t a technical firearm term so legislators define it as they see fit. There are two bills pending this year seeking to control “assault weapons” in some way and each uses different criteria to define one. These definitions both differ from the expired federal law. In fact, the definition has become so broad as to encompass common semiautomatic hunting and target guns.

Denying 18-20 year old adults their right to purchase the legal firearm of their choice, denies them their most effective means of defense should they be the subject of criminal attack and denies them their ability to purchase semi-automatic rifles and shotguns for hunting.

For the forgoing reasons, I ask that you vote against SB274.

Thank you. I remain,

Sincerely yours,

Daniel E. Zelenka, II
President
[Personal Contact Information was Deleted]
www.louisianashooting.com

The following two bills introduced by consistently anti-gun Senator Troy Carter (D, District 7) will be heard in the Senate Judiciary C Committee in Hearing Room F on April 3, 2018 at 9:30 AM. Please attend if possible.

OPPOSE SB155 Troy CARTER, WEAPONS – Prohibits sale of weapons to any person under the age of twenty-one. Senate Bill 155 seeks to prohibit the sale of “any firearm or other instrumentality customarily used as a dangerous weapon to any person under the age of twenty-one.” Raising the age from 18 years of to 21 years old affects the constitutional rights of over 180,000 Louisiana adults. Under current law, these adults have the right to vote, marry, contract, join the military and purchase firearms. Many live on their own, including those who are married or are single parents. Some are even military veterans. Denying these adults their right to purchase a firearm, denies them their most effective means of defense should they be the subject of criminal attack not to mention their ability to purchase hunting rifles and shotguns. In addition, this bill would deny these same adults the ability to purchase knives or possibly even baseball bats. The suggested change is unnecessary and could lead to the unintended consequence of leaving young adults vulnerable to criminal attack.

OPPOSE SB274 Troy CARTER, WEAPONS – Prohibits sale of assault weapons to any person under the age of twenty-one. Senate Bill 274 seeks to prohibit the sale of “any firearm, assault weapon or other instrumentality customarily used as a dangerous weapon to any person under the age of twenty-one.” Adding the poorly defined term “assault weapon” to the language of SB155 above does nothing as this bill also seeks to raise the age limit on all firearms, knives, etc. For the same reasons as set forth above, this bill is objectionable. In addition, the term “assault weapon” is both over used and under defined. It isn’t a technical firearm term so legislators define it as they see fit. There are two bills pending this year seeking to control “assault weapons” in some way and each uses a different definition of what one is. These definitions both differ from the expired federal law. In fact, the definition has become so broad as to encompass common semiautomatic hunting and target guns.