Louisiana residents may soon be able to carry a concealed gun without first obtaining a permit.
Governor Jeff Landry is expected to sign a bill on his desk that would legalize permitless concealed carry in Louisiana. In fact, Landry has vowed to sign the bill into law, making Louisiana the 28th to allow unrestricted carry of a concealed firearm.
A New Orleans concealed carry instructor is issuing warning to those thinking about taking advantage of the law.
"You're responsible for every bullet that comes out of your gun," Dave Newman said. "You have to understand what is legal and what is not, the potential for negligent homicide if you hit somebody you didn't intend. Even if you don't get a criminal charge, you're looking at a lawsuit. You could lose your home. You could lose your business. You're gonna get sued."
Newman says carrying and using a concealed gun is more complicated than pointing and shooting. He says he fears the new law will allow people with no knowledge of guns to buy and carry weapons willy-nilly.
"There are a lot of people who buy guns and really don't know how they function," Newman said. "They put the bullets in the magazine backwards. They don't even know their guns come apart for cleaning (or) don't even think they have to clean it. There's all kinds of bad information out there."
Newman says a gun is a weapon of last resort. He told WWL's Tommy Tucker that the hardest part of concealed carry is making the decision to shoot.
"A lot of times, the point where they go wrong is at the initial point of making the decision," Newman said. "You don't want to be thinking about it in the moment because, according to the statistics from the FBI, most gun fights are over in three to five seconds."
Newman says the decision to shoot or not to shoot is one that could affect the rest of the gun owner's life.
"People think that they'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by six. That's a phrase that goes around a bit. I'm not sure I would answer that the way they would because I don't like prison."