LSU Journalism coverage of the State Legislature
Paul Braun, LSU Manship School News ServiceThough legislators proposed an array of bills to deal with gun violence and improve school safety, they have passed no major changes in gun laws in a session book-ended by school shootings in Florida and Texas.
The Legislature convened for the first time this year two days before the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and many of the bills -- which would have raised the age to buy an assault rifle, ban bump stocks and arm teachers -- were filed in response to that and other shootings around the country.
Even some veteran legislators were surprised by the results and attributed the lack of consensus to the vastly different priorities held by legislators across the state.
“I think it’s reflective of the state we live in,” Rep. Jack McFarland, R-Jonesboro, said. “People say we aren’t diverse-- we are.”
Bills by Sen. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, and Rep. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, proposed to prohibit individuals under 21 from purchasing assault-style weapons like the AR-15 that 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz used to kill 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The Florida Legislature passed a similar law in a package of bills to address gun violence.
Carter’s bill reached the Senate floor but was defeated 24-9 in April. Its House counterpart failed in committee.
Members of both the House and Senate in Louisiana pushed legislation to ban “bump-stocks”--a widely called-for change in the wake of the Las Vegas massacre, where the rapid-fire device was used in killing 59 people at a country music festival.
The Senate version of the bump-stock ban, also sponsored by Carter, advanced through committee but was shelved
