Our Views: Opposition kills campus gun bill
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Louisiana college and university students and officials have prevailed against a proposal to allow concealed weapons on their campuses.
But they apparently will have to fight another round next year.
Rep. Ernest Wooton, R-Belle Chasse, vowed to push his proposal again in 2009.
“I guarantee you, we will be back,” Wooton promised.
Carrying concealed weapons is a more complicated issue than owning or even openly carrying firearms for self-defense. Bystanders have no way of knowing whether a stranger’s concealed weapon is being carried legally or illegally and with lawful or unlawful intent.
It’s reasonable to prohibit weapons in some places, such as barrooms, courtrooms, churches and schools. Homeowners, business owners, other property owners, colleges and universities should be able to forbid firearms on their premises.
Wooton, a former sheriff, had pushed legislation that would have allowed permit holders to carry concealed weapons on Louisiana’s private and public college and university campuses.
Wooton’s House Bill 199 had support from the National Rifle Association, but it had opposition from people on Louisiana college and university campuses the bill would have covered.
Higher education officials, campus police chiefs, student leaders and even LSU’s athletic director, Skip Bertman, and several coaches, including Les Miles, lined up in opposition.
Wooton pushed his bill as a way to protect people on Louisiana campuses, but a lot of those very people didn’t see it that way. Their opposition blocked the bill.
In the end, Wooton wasn’t able to get the votes he needed for passage of the legislation in the House. He was wise to withdraw the bill from consideration.
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