Concealing a gun without a permit is now the law in New Orleans.
"I don't think this is great," said GNO, Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht, one of the leaders of the NOLA Coalition, a collective of civic and business leaders looking for solutions to the city's crime issues.
Law enforcement and business groups in New Orleans were unsuccessful in getting state lawmakers to keep the requirement for training and a conceal-carry permit in place for the city of New Orleans. Hecht says what has been called "constitutional carry" may work for other jurisdictions, but New Orleans is not like other cities.
"We're an outlier in that we're the only metro that allows 24-7 alcohol sales and citywide open containers," Hecht told WWL's Newell Normand. "So the context matters."
Even though constitutional carry makes it harder for police to stop individuals they suspect are concealing a gun, Hecht says he believes the police still have methods at their disposal.
"We still have negligent carry laws that I think give our officers the ability to stop somebody who is carrying a firearm in a threatening manner," he explained.
