The LSA’s Position on Constitutional Carry

There has been a wave of permit-less concealed carry laws enacted across the US. They are popularly referred to as “Constitutional Carry Laws.”  In the past, there have been constitutional carry bills filed and presented to the Louisiana House Administration of Criminal Justice committee. No representative of the LSA, or even the NRA, attended those hearings, much less supported the bills. With respect to the LSA, this was in part because we are conservative and wanted to see how these laws worked in other states. There are 16 states with constitutional carry laws in effect and bills are pending in several others. After watching how they worked and looking for any problems they might cause, LSA has decided to support HB 686 because constitutional carry in Louisiana is an idea whose time has come. There is a constitutionally-protected right to carry a firearm openly in Louisiana; constitutional carry would allow someone carrying a firearm to put on a coat or wear his shirt untucked.

The Michael Bloomberg supported Moms Demand Action anti-rights group will claim that the sky will fall and blood will run in the streets if constitutional carry passes. We all heard the same thing from similar anti-rights groups when shall issue concealed carry laws were proposed and passed. None of their dire predictions came true. The 16 states that have constitutional carry have experienced no more issues than carry permit states, which is to say very, very few issues.

You may have concerns about training. We at the LSA agree that it is important, and we encourage people to get training. However, we do not believe training should be mandated. If it can be mandated for concealed carry, why not mandate it for open carry or even mandate it for gun ownership? You can see the slippery slope created by taking a position as a gun professional that people need training to have or carry a gun (keep and bear).

Fortunately, we have a track record to look at with respect to whether mandatory training should be required. In addition to the 16 constitutional carry states there are 6 states that require no training to get a permit. Those states do not experience any more issues than we do in Louisiana with our mandatory training. Further, economist John Lott noted that the increase in the number of people carrying guns in constitutional carry states has actually led to an increase in gun owners getting training, not a decrease.

Some have noted that constitutional carry will lead to law enforcement officers being shot. This, in fact, is a Red Herring. Constitutional carry does not allow “everyone” to carry concealed. It only allows law abiding citizens to carry. Law abiding citizens by definition are not a danger to law enforcement officers. Besides, the right to keep and bear arms is a Civil Right that is a limitation on the power of the government (the police). No civil right exists to make the job of the police easier.

The LSA believes that allowing constitutional carry will actually have the effect of more people getting their permit, not less. Carrying under the constitutional carry bill will have its limitations such as a lack of reciprocity, inability to carry within a 1000-foot school zone, and the inability to carry in a restaurant that serves alcohol (there are special laws that allow each of these things for permit holders). People that become used to carrying a firearm will grow unhappy with these limitations and many will likely obtain permits. In addition, there are other advantages to a permit such as the NICS background check waiver and, if HB 484 passes, the ability to carry a knife without being subject to RS 14:95.

People may think that it is a good idea to require a person to get a permit to carry a concealed firearm, but that is not the standard by which we must judge this bill. Louisiana Constitution Article 1, Section 11 says that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed, and any infringement will be subject to strict scrutiny review. Strict scrutiny requires a compelling governmental interest and a narrowly tailored regulation. That we have a constitutionally-protected right to open carry in Louisiana and have been doing so without problems for many years coupled with the evidence provided by 16 other states’ experiences with constitutional carry clearly show that there is no compelling governmental interest in preventing a law-abiding citizen from carrying his legally owned firearm in a concealed manner without obtaining a permit to do so.