One week after New Orleans-area lawmakers pulled bills to exempt parts of the Crescent City from the state's permitless concealed carry law, local officials are still pushing the state legislature to approve such a measure.
New Orleans councilwoman Helena Moreno told WWL's Newell Normand that it may be okay to allow someone in a small town to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. However, she says New Orleans is a tourist Mecca, and the New Orleans Police Department needs this exemption to stop violence before it can happen.
"The city of New Orleans is much different than other cities across the state," Moreno said. "Here in our city, we have roughly 17 to 19 million visitors every year who predominantly come to visit a two-square-mile area in our city. This exemption, in my opinion, would just make common sense."
Moreno told WWL's Newell Normand that the exemption would allow the NOPD to stop people they catch carrying a concealed gun and possibly get criminals who are barred from carrying a gun off the street before they shoot someone.
"Individuals who are not supposed to be carrying firearms, they've been able to get these illegal firearms off our streets and may have potentially prevented shootings," Moreno said.
Moreno cited last week's mass shooting outside a downtown nightclub as one of the reasons why lawmakers need to create this exemption. That shooting left a woman dead and 11 others injured.
"We want to do everything possible to prevent these types of shootings, and we're hoping that one of these pieces of legislation prevails so that there can be some type of legislation," Moreno said. "What we don't want is to have more shootings--even more shootings like the one we had outside of a club in the Warehouse District last week."
Moreno also told Normand that she vehemently opposes legislation that would shield more government documents from the public. She says the Senate is considering making major amendments to the bill, which she described as "incredibly problematic."
"I think the legislation is absolutely ridiculous," Moreno said. "It will lead to more and addition mistrust in public officials by the people of the state of Louisiana. I think there will be such an opportunity for people in elected and public offices to hide so much. I think it could lead to additional corruption. I think it's terrible. I think it's moving us in the completely wrong direction."
Moreno also voiced her opposition to the planned constitutional convention, calling the process to call that convention is moving "way too fast" with "not enough input."