Louisiana Republicans Look to Expand Right to Carry

Louisiana Republicans are taking aim at one of the state’s most expansive “gun-free zones” this session with a bill that would allow lawful concealed carry on the campuses of colleges and universities that receive public funds. 

HB 99, authored by Rep. Danny McCormick, would allow “[a]ny individual who is eighteen years of age or older and who is lawfully permitted to possess a firearm pursuant to state and federal law” to carry a firearm on the campus of any college or university in the state, subject to a few restrictions.

The provisions of this Section do not permit an individual to carry a firearm in any of the following:

(a) Locations where firearm possession is restricted under federal law.

(b) Areas designated for any of the following:

(i) Active disciplinary or administrative hearings.

(ii) Medical or mental health treatment centers operated by the college or university. 

(iii) Events with security screening or controlled access when signs that indicate the existence of such areas are posted pursuant to R.S. 14:95.6.

The bill, as written also provides an exemption for “private facilities or classrooms within the college or university”, which can restrict the carrying of a firearms if the college or university posts the proper signage. 

McCormick’s bill also prohibits the state Board of Regents as well as private high ed institutions from adopting, enacting, or enforcing any policy that requires a gun owner to register their firearm or declare their eligibility to carry; impose training requirements more restrictive than state law; or adopting storage requirements. 

McCormick has been a staunch advocate for the right to keep and bear arms during his time in office, and was instrumental in getting permitless carry enshrined into law just a couple of years ago. I like the vast majority of HB 99, but if the exemption for “private facilities or classrooms” allows for all classrooms to continue to be “gun-free zones” so long as signage is posted, that would be a major problem, and one that I hope can be corrected as the bill progresses through the legislature. 

Many colleges and universities don’t have clearly defined campus boundaries these days, and a lawful gun owner can inadvertently enter a “gun-free zone” just by walking across the street. HB 99 would rectify that problem, but that’s not the only reason why campus carry laws exist. At their most fundamental level, they are a recognition that crime can happen anywhere, and peaceable gun owners have a right to protect themselves while they’re on campus. 

Allowing classrooms to remain off limits to lawful carry prevents students and faculty from being able to carry to and from class. A student or professor who might want to have her pistol with her as she walks back to her car after evening classes would be unable to do so if the university she works for posts signs at the entrance to every classroom prohibiting concealed carry inside. 

Just as importantly, we know that classrooms themselves can be the target of those twisted individuals intent on murdering as many people as possible. Allowing colleges and universities to prohibit lawful carry in those settings won’t stop an madman from bringing a gun inside a classroom, but it will stop most peaceable gun owners from doing the same. 

Based on HB 99’s language, it’s unclear to me whether that provision would apply only to classrooms located in a private facility on campus or just classrooms in general. That language definitely needs to be clarified, and if it does allow all classrooms to be off-limits to lawful carry, it needs to change. 

One potential compromise would be to allow faculty to prohibit firearms in their offices, but to keep the classrooms themselves open to lawful carry. That’s the case in several states that have already adopted campus carry laws, and it seems to work just fine. 

The 2026 session doesn’t kick off in Baton Rouge for another month, so there’s plenty of time to clarify HB 99’s text. Louisiana gun owners who want to see another improvement to the state’s laws should contact their House and Senate members now, though, and urge them to sign on as co-sponsors to HB 99 and work to make its language as strong as possible in terms of recognizing the right to bear arms in self-defense. 

Editor’s Note: The anti-gun left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.

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