Lawmaker wants to do away with concealed carry permits in La.

“It’s legal in 18 other states right now and two more are in the process of legalizing it so we’re hoping to be number 19 or 20, wherever we fall in there, but Arkansas and Mississippi already have constitutional carry and it’s working good,”

BATON ROUGE, La. - In Louisiana, if you don’t have a felony and you’re over the age of 21, you can take a concealed carry course and pay for a concealed carry permit. But one Louisiana representative says there’s a better way to exercise that right.

“In Louisiana right now, open carry is legal without a permit and this just mimics that so you can conceal carry without a permit,” said state Rep. Danny McCormick.

McCormick said replacing the current law with what is called a constitutional carry law is what many other states have already done and that it’s time for Louisiana to get on board.

“It’s legal in 18 other states right now and two more are in the process of legalizing it so we’re hoping to be number 19 or 20, wherever we fall in there, but Arkansas and Mississippi already have constitutional carry and it’s working good,” McCormick added.

He says that while he was out campaigning and knocking on the doors people kept asking him to make constitutional carry a thing in Louisiana.

“I mean, people are ready to go on the offense with their Second Amendment rights. They’re tired of being on defense and, as we always say, ‘There’s no but in the Second Amendment.’ You know, people say, ‘I’m pro-Second Amendment but ...’ There’s no but in the Second Amendment, so we’re going back to the original intent,” McCormick explained.

“I think that it is a great idea for our state,” said Louisiana Firearms owner Joshua Davis.

Davis also said concealed carry permits aren’t meant to keep people safer but just another way for the government to take your money.

“I think that people should get behind this bill because anytime you try to monetize our rights, it’s never a good thing and I believe a concealed carry permit is nothing more than a tax on our right,” Davis noted.

But for every pro, there’s always a con.

“If there is no course that’s required and everyone can just legally conceal carry their gun, I think a con would be if those laws about where you can and can’t conceal carry aren’t taught, I think you’re going to see more arrests with people conceal carrying and they’ll argue in court, ‘Oh, I didn’t know I couldn’t conceal carry in the mall,’” Davis added.

And McCormick thinks his bill has a good chance.

“I think it has an excellent chance. I think it’s above 75%,” McCormick estimated.