- PHOTO BY ALEX WOODWARD
- Students participating in the New Orleans March for Our Lives on March 24.
A bill to raise the age for purchasing assault weapons in Louisiana narrowly passed a state Senate committee April 3, after debate among legislators, gun rights advocates, teachers, students and law enforcement officials including New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Michael Harrison. It now heads to the full state Senate.
House Bill 274[1] would prevent people from under age 21 from purchasing so-called assault weapons, including guns with high-capacity magazines. It also would raise the penalties for unlawful sale to minors from $300 to $1,000.
Harrison argued the bill — introduced by state Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans — could decrease the number of so-called assault weapons used to commit mass shootings. Among the hundreds of murders and shootings in New Orleans since his became chief, Harrison said there hasn't been a single instance of someone using an assault weapon to defend themselves — but "a large percentage" of those shootings were committed by a person firing an assault weapon.
New Orleans students march against gun violence in a March for Our Lives through French Quarter [2]
New Orleans students march against gun violence in a March for Our Lives through French Quarter With the ability to vote in their sights, students are ready to "vote them out." By Alex Woodward The Latest
[3]
We owe it to young people … It’s not gonna solve every problem, but it’s going to help. Those incremental steps to provide some safety to our young people are worth it."
Voting in support of the measure were Democratic legislators Carter, Yvonne Colomb and Regina Barrow, as well as Republican state Sen. Fred Mills. Robert Tasman with the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops also spoke in support of the measure.
State Rep. Bodi White, R-Baton Rouge, and a spokesperson with the National Rifle Association challenged that the bill infringes on peoples' Second Amendment rights and unjustly punishes law-abiding gun owners.
"It seems like we always have to give up to make do for the folks who tend to commit the crimes and don’t hold the same beliefs that you or I do," White said. "There’s always a weapon if you want to kill someone."
Mary Wanda, a teacher who spoke in support of the bill, said
