First Bills Take Up Gun Regulations

Legislators have begun filing their bills for the upcoming session. The first three take up gun regulation.

 Because this is an odd-numbered year, legislators will concentrate on tax and appropriation bills. But each legislator is allowed to file five bills on other topics. Gun regulation is likely to be a recurring theme. 

State Rep. Jim Morris is responding to possible national regulation that would stiffen gun control. His bill would bar any new national regulation, whether it be law or executive order, put in place after Jan. 1 of this year, from affecting Louisianians. 

Rep. John Schroder is backing a bill that would exempt law enforcement from laws that disallow guns on school property. Rep. Barbara Norton filed a bill that would stiffen gun control. She wants regulation that would require gun owners to lock up the guns stored in their homes. Those that don’t comply would face fines of up to $500. Last year, an amendment was added to the constitution that made the right to own guns “a fundamental right,” making it harder to enact new gun control. In the wake of Sandy Hook, Gov. Bobby Jindal issued an executive order creating a commission to investigate what could be done to improve school safety. We’re likely to see legislation from that, too.