The new O. K. Corral

With two new gun bills, Gov. Jeff Landry, and Republican lawmakers are about to make Louisiana a much deadlier state

Among the many bad ideas that Gov. Jeff Landry and lawmakers are rushing into law during their special legislation on crime are two bills almost guaranteed to make Louisiana a deadlier place.

In the name of fighting crime, Landry will turn Louisiana into the O. K. Corral.

The first of two bills sponsored by Rep. Blake Miguez would allow any adult in Louisiana to carry a concealed firearm without a permit or training.

The second bill is just as dangerous. It says that those with a concealed weapons permit “shall not be liable for damages for any injury, death, or loss suffered by a perpetrator when the injury, death, or loss is caused by a justified use of force or self-defense through the discharge of the handgun of the authorized person.”

None of this makes any sense if you want to tamp down on crime and gun violence.

Why would anyone with the sense God gave a hamster think it’s a good idea to encourage untrained people to arm themselves and leap into action when they see (or sense) trouble at the local Albertsons?

The one-day course that people take for a concealed weapons permit is nothing like the months of training that a law enforcement officer receives before being allowed to intervene in a violent situation.

It’s dangerous enough to encourage people to carry guns — concealed or otherwise — in the hopes they’ll start shooting at people they assume are committing a crime.

But it’s another level of recklessness to tell those same people that if they kill an innocent person because they innocently misjudged the situation or had terrible aim, Louisiana won’t charge them with a crime.

“You say you meant well? You were only trying to help? Well, then, no problem. Have a nice day, sir!”

These are dumb and reckless bills. I believe that only the most extreme NRA types believe these are sound ideas. Most citizens have more sense than Landry and Miguez on this issue.

Their bills will cost lives and make Louisiana a much more dangerous place.

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Rep. Garret Graves: counterfeit moderate

U.S. Rep. Garret Graves has always cultivated an image as a moderate and sensible Republican. He wants you to believe that he’s not a MAGA knuckle-dragger like his Louisiana counterpart Rep. Clay Higgins of Lafayette.

He’s a reasonable fellow who does not engage in partisan histrionics, like Sen. John Kennedy, R-Hooterville.

Garret’s the kind of person you’d want to have a beer with. You wouldn’t mind sitting next to him on an airplane. At least, that’s the image he and his staff have cultivated since he arrived in Congress in 2015.

But the reality is different. Graves is no reasonable moderate.

Exhibit A: He is one of three members of the Louisiana House delegation to sponsor H.R.431, the Life at Conception Act. (Speaker Mike Johnson and Higgins are the other two.)

The bill’s text says it would “implement equal protection for the right to life of each born and preborn human person.” It defines “person” as “each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization.”

Last week, when it effectively ended in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Alabama, that state’s Supreme Court ruled that IVF is a moment of fertilization.

As the Washington Post reported about the bill Graves supports: “The measure has no provisions for processes like IVF, meaning access to the procedure would not be protected. It would ban nearly all abortions nationwide.”

Anyone who would sponsor such a bill is no sensible moderate.

Exhibit B: Graves has usually sided with some of the worst, craziest members of the U.S. House. For example, he recently voted for the ridiculous impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. He voted to repeal the Affording Care Act. He voted against the Equity Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system. 

Exhibit C: During the four years that Donald Trump was president, Graves voted for Trump’s position on legislation 90.3 percent of the time.

This moderate image mirage is one that will become even more important to Graves in the coming months as he contemplates his next political move.

Will he run for reelection in the new majority-Black 6^th Congressional District, or will he run in the majority-White district of northeast Louisiana Rep. Julia Letlow? Or will he challenge U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy in 2026?

Whatever he decides, count on Graves to try to sell us on the preposterous idea that he’s a sensible, middle-of-the-road guy who just wants the government to work for average people.

Despite what he will say, putting your name on a bill that would end IVF is no way to persuade voters that you’re a levelheaded politician who has their best interests at heart.

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Jeff Landry’s planning a cover-up

What crimes are Gov. Jeff Landry and his staff planning? If you think that’s a silly question, consider that a Landry ally, freshman Republican state Rep. Michael Melerine of Caddo Parish, this week filed legislation that would exempt the governor and his staff from the state’s Public Records Law.