permitless carry is dead

long live permitless carry

Big news on HB 37: it is no longer a permitless concealed carry bill. It is now a “let’s arm teachers” bill.

And as per yuzh, the Louisiana Legislature has left me with conflicted emotions. 

A quick refresher: HB 37 began as what they like to call a “Constitutional Carry” bill because they’re real good at branding things to fit their agenda (see: freedom fries), but is more accurately described as a “Permitless Carry” bill because it would allow people to conceal carry a gun without a permit and without training.

Yes, correct, you read that right. Without a permit and without training.

An identical bill was passed last year and vetoed by the Governor. And although there was a lot of hype about a veto override, ultimately the veto override failed because they didn’t have the votes. This year’s author, Rep. Danny McCormick, known popularly as “Little Bitch Danny,” said they should pass it again to let “them” know how serious we are about our second amendment rights here in Louisiana. 

HB 37 was heard yesterday (June 1) in Senate Revenue and Fiscal Committee just as reports of the Tulsa shooting were coming out. Republicans quickly pivoted and amended the bill to take out all the permitless carry language and convert it into a bill that would provide for a “school protection officer,” which just means a teacher or an administrator with a gun, who they said would be a good deterrent against another mass shooting. I guess forgetting that all the good guys with guns stood OUTSIDE Robb Elementary while 19 children and 2 teachers were gunned down and not realizing how insane it is to expect teachers to do something that trained officers were too scared to do.

All because they don’t want to cede any ground to gun control. Which was evident last week when they did not pivot in another HB 37 Senate Committee hearing that happened at the exact same time as the Uvalde shooting. While those children were being massacred one state over in Texas—where permitless carry passed just last year—our legislators were sitting in our Capitol in Baton Rouge bemoaning the scourge of gun control.

Chris McNutt of the National Association of Gun Rights said “Louisiana is starting to look like an island of gun control in a sea of freedom” right before the gunman shot his grandmother and headed over to Robb Elementary. 

Those little babies drowned in his sea of freedom. 

And yes, I am aware—as my multiple bro trolls have YELLED AT ME–that the gunman was not conceal carrying because you “CAN’T [sic]* HIDE A LONG GUN MY FRIEND YOUR ARGUMENT IS INVALID” But, truly I don’t give a fuck. The fact that the Uvalde gunman and the Buffalo gunman, both 18 years old, were able to legally purchase those weapons and that kind of ammunition with such ease is unacceptable. Period. 

Anyway, now it is unclear what will happen to HB 37. It still has to be voted on by the entire Senate, so anything could happen. Once it’s on the Senate floor, they could amend it again to include the language on permitless carry again. They could amend it again to exclude the language about the school protection officers. Little Bitch Danny could get pissed and pull it just like he did with his other bitchy little bill, HB 813, that tried to classify abortion as a homicide.

My guess is it doesn’t matter. Because even if Little Bitch Danny (LBD)  pulls it tomorrow, he’ll be back with it next year. And if not him, someone else. Last year, the author was Senator Jay Morris, who objected yesterday to the adoption of the amendment and favored keeping the bill as is in all of its permitless glory. Tomorrow it will be someone else.

They’ll be back because they have a list of talking points a mile long, including:

1)  As Danny Boy said just last week, Louisiana NEEDS permitless carry to pass so, “gun owners could avoid the stigma of open carry.” 

Which I guess means he doesn’t want people looking at him funny? Is that what all this is about? You know that the vast majority of people are uncomfortable seeing civilians armed in places like the grocery store and your solution is to hide your weapon—AND do away with permits and training—so they don’t look at you funny and in turn make you feel uncomfortable?

Lil B Danny, let me pass on a nugget of wisdom that my Uncle Jay (Z) taught me when I went to go see him (in concert) the night before my 35th birthday. He said: 

You can’t grow in comfort.

That’s it. 

Sometimes you have to be uncomfortable to evolve as a human being. Sometimes the things you are doing that make you uncomfortable are the things you need to lean into and sometimes—and this is where you really need to pay attention, bb—the things you are doing that make you uncomfortable are the things YOU need to change. It is not everyone else’s responsibility to make ourselves uncomfortable so that you can sit pretty with your handheld under your coat. 

Personally, as a woman, I have lived enough of my life uncomfortable—being hassled on the street, getting looked at up and down on the elevator, expected to always smile and take it as a compliment. And let me tell you, I AM DONE sacrificing my comfort for yours (at least in this particular scenario because I understand that I live in a society and sometimes I need to adjust my behavior to benefit the well-being of the collective).  

Anyway, point is, you’re up, bro. It’s your responsibility to change the thing literally making all of us uncomfortable because this is not a fight we’re giving up on.

2) I know, I know, lil b. My bro trolls have also informed me that ThE cRiMiNaLs CoNcEaL cArRy EvErY dAy without a permit and without training so why shouldn’t law abiding citizens be able to do the same? 

And since you’re speaking in code, I’m going to respond in code:

draeh reve ev’I tihs tsebmud eht s’taht

That’s it. That’s my rebuttal.

Anyway. So, yaaaaay us! We won? I guess? Permitless carry is dead! At least for this moment. Although I don’t think you can call a tentative bill arming teachers a win. 

I think the real win here is that Danny isn’t representative of all gun owners in Louisiana. 

Senator Connick, a Republican representing Jefferson and Plaquemines Parish, spoke against the bill yesterday as it was in its original permitless carry posture, saying he received death threats for voting against the same bill last year—death threats against him and his family that he read last year on the Senate floor. 

Not only did he receive death threats, but his district was flooded with mailers and Facebook ads aligning him with President Biden, calling him a traitor. Interestingly enough, he said all of the mailers and all of the death threats came from people in other states. People and organizations in Virginia and Colorado and Arizona. 

But he doesn’t represent them. He represents Louisiana.

He said afterwards he polled his district to make sure he was casting a representative vote and sure enough, 78% of respondents did NOT favor concealed carry without a permit and without training. He said his district is full of fishermen and hunters and card-carrying NRA members and red-blooded Republicans. And they were against permitless carry.

“We bring these bills year after year and it causes this country to divide. The abortion issue, this issue. Are they being brought just to divide us or to bring us together? Without seeing any compromise?” Connick asked.

Lil B Danny is not our future. Our future has not yet been decided. It has not yet been paved with immovable partisan bricks. We have some leeway here. We have a chance to work together. The loud voices of a few do not define us all.

Call your State Senator and remind them that we are Louisiana. Remind them that we are not everyone else.

Tell them that they have an obligation to the people of THIS State.

Tell them you have hope for our future.

*he actually said “can hide” but I’m pretty sure that would invalidate his ENTIRE ARGUMENT so I cleaned it up for him. ur welcome, bro