Louisiana Senate Set to Debate Several Gun Bills
The Louisiana Senate is expected to vote today on a bill which would prohibit the sale, manufacture, purchase, possession, or transfer of bump stocks and other “rapid-fire” devices. Senate Bill 491 is sponsored by Senator Troy Carter of New Orleans.
The NRA is urging gun advocates to get involved now to fight this bill.
The legislation would prohibits a person from "importing, manufacturing, selling, keeping for sale, offering for sale, purchasing, possessing or transferring within this state a rapid-fire device, and provides that anyone who violates this prohibition shall be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned for not more than one year, or both."
The proposal also defines "rapid-fire device" as any of the following:
(1) A device that, when attached to a semiautomatic weapon, allows the weapon to discharge two or more shots in a burst by activating the device.
(2) A manual or power-driven trigger activating device that, when attached to a semiautomatic weapon, substantially increases the rate of fire of that weapon.
(3) A reciprocating stock or other device that, when attached to a semiautomatic weapon, substantially accelerates the rate of fire of the weapon.
This Carter bill also defines "semiautomatic weapon" as "any repeating weapon that utilizes the portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber to the next round, and that requires a separate function of the trigger to fire each cartridge."
The NRA says
The broad and overreaching language could potentially criminalize firearm modifications such as competition triggers, and ergonomic changes that are commonly done by law-abiding gun owners to make their firearms more suitable for self-defense, competition, hunting, or even overcoming disability.
The House Criminal Justice Committee voted down several gun control bills but many of these ideas are now popping up on the Senate side.
If you would like to contact your state senator, you can call 225 342-2040 to voice your opinion.