BATON ROUGE, La. — A New Orleans lawmaker is not giving up on his bill requiring a permit to carry a concealed handgun in the city’s entertainment districts.
This week, Rep. Alonzo Knox, D-New Orleans made sure to mention his bill over and over again as lawmakers asked him to support “local bills” affecting their home districts.
“A local bill is a local bill and I know best, and when I bring my gun-free zone bill your way, I hope you will remember that,” Knox told one lawmaker.
Knox emphasized that bills affecting local districts typically pass through committees and on the floor with no objections.
“Some individuals outside of New Orleans want to have a say as to what I should do in my district,” Knox said. “Do you think that’s fair and appropriate?”
He told another Senator, “So, if a gun-free zone bill comes your way for a particular area, the district that I represent, I want you to remember that a bill is a local bill.”
But the bill Knox is pushing isn’t just any local bill.
It would exempt parts of downtown New Orleans, the convention center district – and French Quarter from the state’s new permitless concealed carry law.
He voluntarily shelved the bill last month when lawmakers pushed back on the idea.
City Council President Helena Moreno says it would protect a two-square-mile area of the city that attracts up to 18 million visitors a year.
“An area that is very crowded where if you fire a shot and try to hit one person, you may hit ten in between,” Moreno said. “So, that’s the big concern.”
Knox said in a statement he plans to bring his bill back up in committee.
“Downtown New Orleans presents unique challenges, where large crowds, alcohol and guns simply do not mix.”
Knox also told WWL Louisiana, he named his bill in honor of Darriel King, the security guard killed outside Wit’s Inn, in Mid-City and Jezreel Poleate who died in last month’s mass shooting outside the Republic nightclub in the Warehouse District.
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