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While lawmakers in states like California, New Jersey and Colorado push an onslaught of anti-gun measures each session, legislators in other states are working hard to pass laws that enhance the right of their citizens to keep and bear arms. An excellent example of that is Louisiana, where lawmakers passed and Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed three such bills over the past few weeks.

House Bill 819, provides that the state shall have the burden of proof in any criminal proceeding in which the justification of self-defense is raised. The measure states: “In any civil proceeding in which the defense of self-defense is raised, the defendant shall have the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he acted in self-defense. For the purposes of this Article, if the defense of self-defense is raised in a civil proceeding by an authorized person as defined in R.S. 9:2793.12, the burden of proof shall be on the party asserting the action to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the injury, death, or loss complained of was not caused by a justified use of force or self-defense by the authorized person.”

The measure included identical language for self-defense cases in criminal proceedings.

Another measure passed and signed, Senate Bill 234, prohibits businesses that engage in the practice of discriminating against the firearms and ammunition industries from contracting with governmental entities in the Pelican State. Louisiana is now the eighth state to pass such a measure, with Idaho also passing a similar law this legislative session.

The new law states: “Except as provided in Subsection D of this Section, a public entity may not enter into a contract with a company for the purchase of goods or services unless the contract contains a written verification from the company of both of the following: (1) The company does not have a practice, policy, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association based solely on the entity’s or association’s status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association. (2) The company will not discriminate against a firearm entity or firearm trade association during the term of the contract based solely on the entity’s or association’s status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association.”

Lastly, Senate Bill 301 prohibits payment processors from using firearm/ammunition-specific Merchant Category Codes (MCCs). MCCs are used by payment processors (like Visa and Mastercard) and other financial services companies to categorize transactions.

Historically, firearm retailers were included in the MCC for sporting goods stores and miscellaneous retail. When the new MCC created a few years ago is used, credit card companies and other payment processors can see that the purchases were for firearms, basically creating a de-facto registry of guns and gun owners.

All three of the new Louisiana laws will go into effect on Aug. 1.

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14 COMMENTS

  1. Have we turned the page in La.? Recalling Hurricane Katrina and the Bush ghouls going door to with knees on the backs of grandmas just wanting the ability to protect themselves. Honestly I didn’t see the leviathan that was the Bush dynasty.

    • Vinny, my sheriff sent me to Katrina. Last hurricane I worked. And the worst. Didn’t see a single grandmother get her ass kicked by LE. I did see a few rescued though. Urban myth.

    • Just telling you what I saw. Or, didn’t, as the case may be. I did see destruction on a scale that I couldn’t have imagined. That’s after working a few Florida hurricanes and more tropical storms than I can recall. I also saw looting, arson, gun fights and a cow standing on the roof of a million dollar house. No grandma best downs though. Sorry.

      • This reminds me of a study by one university with volunteer students. One half of the students were the convicts, the other half were assigned as the prison guards. It did not take long for the convicts to be abused and beaten, the study had to be halted (student were getting hurt). Maybe it’s the same mindset of what’s happening with Jan. 6 (victims), that’s how I feel about it. Several defendants have committed suicide. One just recently died of terminal cancer (it was left untreated). One (former Green Beret) refused to help a 3 letter agency, never stepped into the capital (but posted the said 3 letter trying to recruit) now over 1000 days locked up. We have some rot on our hands and I pray It’ll get cleaned up. You don’t need to apologize, everyone’s experience is different,,, Thanks

  2. My Cajun coon-ass friends in Louisiana finally have a Governor they can respect and who will defend their 2A rights!

  3. I have been following 2A legislation in the Louisiana legislature since 2020. Perhaps credit for the successes in 2024 can also be given to:
    2012 when Senator Riser authored SB 303, “Constitutional amendment to provide that the right to keep and bear arms is fundamental and shall not be infringed and any restrictions on this right shall be subject to a strict scrutiny standard by courts in determining any violation of the right.”
    https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=12RS&b=ACT874&sbi=y
    2020 Rep McCormick and others introduced bills that did not survive committees. Other bills relative to carry in churches, during hurricanes and preemption did pass.
    2021 Rep McCormick’s CC bill failed but Sen Morris’ SB 118 was vetoed by Gov Edwards and then during a veto override session 4 Senators(Bernard, Connick, Foil and Smith) changed their yeah vote to a nay thus killing the veto override.
    2022 Rep McCormick’s CC HB 37 failed, but Senator Morris introduced SB 143 which allowed veterans living in Louisiana and active duty military to carry without a permit. Other legislation relative to online training etc also became law.
    2023 Rep McCormick’s HB 131 failed in committee. Other minor pro 2A bills did pass.
    In 2023 a Representative told me that Louisiana would not have CC until a republican governor was elected and after the election of Gov Landry the same Rep told me that Senator Miguez would be the one introducing legislation that would become law. And the rest is recent history.

  4. As long as anti 2A ideology and those who support are allowed to exist in this country. The 2nd Amendment will never be totally safe. The founding patriots understood this and is the reason they sent the British Crown limping back across the pond. Permanently.

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