http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=137665A state lawmaker who describes himself as a strong Second Amendment supporter says there's no reason for special restrictions on individuals with concealed carry permits inside the Louisiana state parks system.
State Sen. Troy Hebert of New Iberia has proposed a plan that would give state residents the right to get permits for concealed carry in state parks, a right they already have in national parks in the state.
"Recently guns were prohibited in national parks and state parks," said Hebert, who filed SB 534. "There was an amendment put on a bill in Congress that struck down that law that banned guns in the national parks and it was signed by the president.
"So what we want to do is put the state parks in line with the national parks where law-abiding citizens can take their guns into the parks," he said.
Listen to the Hebert interview:
"This is not for hunting purposes but we take our Second Amendment rights very seriously here in Louisiana," Hebert said.
He said his plan does two things.
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"The first thing is that we see this as an opportunity to put our state parks in line with the national parks," he said.
"The second purpose is that we want to send a strong message out there that law-abiding citizens have been given a clear right to bear arms," he said.
He also suggested its passage would deter the plans of "anti-gun" advocates.
"The strategy of these anti-gun people is to erode our rights a little at a time. It they can take the rights away a little at a time, a grain of sand at a time, then pretty soon we wake up and find out that law-abiding citizens won't be able to have guns," he said. "We have to be careful that we don't allow that to happen."
Jim Wallace, the legislative affairs director for the Massachusetts Gun Owner's Action League, says Louisiana is miles ahead of Massachusetts in Second Amendment issues.
"The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court just ruled again that the Second Amendment doesn't apply to Massachusetts citizens," Wallace said. "We're waiting here in anticipation of the McDonald case so we can try to accomplish a lot of things in Massachusetts."
Wallace was referring to the current U. S. Supreme Court case, McDonald v. City of Chicago. That case is over "whether the Second Amendment is incorporated into the Due Process Clause or the Privileges or Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment so as to be applicable to the states, thereby invalidating ordinances prohibiting possession of handguns in the home."
"The gun laws here in Massachusetts since they were changed … are different. We had over a million and a half licensed gun owners in 1998; now we're down to about 230,000," Wallace said.
"All of our laws are written from the premise that we don't have an individual right here in Massachusetts," Wallace said.
WND has reported six states have adopted state provisions exempting guns made and sold within their borders from federal regulations: Arizona, South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Tennessee and Montana.
That is "certainly an interesting concept," Hebert said.
"There's an old saying that says, 'Guns don't kill people, people kill people.' So, we can't just blame guns for all of the violence we have. We have a society that certainly has some problems, but again we need to make sure that all law-abiding citizens can protect themselves, especially in the times like we have right now," Hebert said.
"We have to make sure we protect that very precious Second Amendment," he said. "I look forward to working with my colleagues to pass this legislation. Louisiana has always been pro-gun and I don't see them changing."
Thirty-three states have concealed carry permit laws that reciprocally recognize the permits of other states. Louisiana is one of the states along with Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Montana, and most western states, including Washington State and Oregon.
Eleven states or cities allow residents to apply for permits with no guarantee the permit will be issued. Massachusetts is in this category along with Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Iowa, New York, Alabama, DC, New York City and California.
Six states allow their residents the right to a concealed carry permit: Colorado, Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.
Illinois and Wisconsin deny the right for citizens to have concealed carry permits.
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