Louisiana Constitutional Carry passed in what appears to be a veto proof margin, now the legislation is moving towards the governors desk.
Senate Bill 118 passed the Louisiana state House 72-28 with a few amendment, this sent it back over to the state Senate which passed in in a 27-9 vote.
The bill is currently heading to Louisiana’s Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards’ desk, but Edwards has been threatening to veto the bill.
From Guns.com:
Edwards, when asked about the bill in April, said he felt “very strongly that a considerable majority of the people in Louisiana support the system we currently have,” pointing towards keeping the state’s current concealed carry permitting scheme as is.
However, The Sportsman’s Paradise has one of the highest costs in the country when it comes to obtaining a permit, mandating a fee of $125 for a five-year permit, both for originals and renewals. Added to this is the cost of training from a state-approved instructor, required for both initial applications and refreshers prior to renewal applications. This is in one of the poorest states in the country. Further, all of Louisiana’s neighbors – Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas – either have long had permitless carry laws or are moving towards establishing them.
Supporters of permitless carry in the state point to such requirements as odious to the right to keep and bear arms.
“This bill really shouldn’t be necessary as our right to bear arms is already established under the Second Amendment, and any limitations on that right should be narrow,” said state Sen. Jay Morris, R-Monroe, the proposal’s sponsor.
Luckily, for proponents of Constitutional Carry, even if this legislation gets vetoed by Governor John Bel Edwards the Legislature has enough votes to overturn this.
