Revise Louisiana law to protect better all schools

As it stands, Louisiana RS 14:95.2 may place university campuses, or any school, in the state in the same jeopardy as suffered by Virginia Tech University yesterday.

This law allows for a campus to be designated “firearm free,” meaning that only state police personnel, security guards, students taking classes using firearms, or students who leave those firearms located in dorm rooms or vehicles may possess them on campus grounds. Further, since concealed weapons face additional restrictions, the presence of them to defend oneself is even less likely in such a zone. This describes a situation similar to that which VTU operated under (which obviously did nothing to deter the shooter).

And that cannot be a consideration absent from the sick mind of those like the VTU suspect. If in their twisted logic they want to exact “revenge” or whatever their crazed motive is for so grossly violating moral and juridical laws, they know that their chances are extremely high of imposing their revolting wishes in an environment that has nobody able to defend himself against his firepower.

It’s what has happened in Louisiana already, in the McDonogh High shooting in New Orleans in 2003. Despite plenty of metal detecting and armed security guard capacity, in an apparent retaliation event, four non-students, two armed, shot into a gymnasium. None of that security stopped or deterred the shooters.

Obviously, a secondary school is different from a university – minors should not have access in public buildings to guns outside of JROTC, period – but the faculty members and other employees themselves were prohibited under law (expect with the principal’s permission) to carry firearms. From the criminals’ perspective, avoiding (in the McDonough case) four armed guards is not a difficult thing. But walking into a gym where at your first shot some adult who is carrying may drop you a second later creates an entirely new level of disincentive to even think about doing something so reprehensible.

The tragedy in Virginia is compounded by the fact that last year its General Assembly failed to pass a bill that would have allowed anybody with a concealed weapons carry permit to exercise that right on campuses. Who knows if any of the threatened students in the classroom building would have had a weapon in those circumstances – but even a sicko like the shooter might have had second thoughts about his insane actions if he knew somebody could be packing instead of being assured he could make the environment into his own personal shooting gallery.

Louisiana would increase school security of all kinds if it were this legislative session to pass a law similar to that rejected in Virginia last year – allow any adults with concealed carry permits legal authority to have their weapons on their persons on school property.