Gov. Edwards discusses his opposition to a concealed carry bill; Kennedy, Graves respond to calls for federal gun control

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - The gun rights debate is not just hot around the country, but also in the Louisiana legislature. Meanwhile, two members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation weighed in on Friday on calls for more gun control.

House Bill 37 by Rep. Danny McCormick, R-Oil City, removes the requirement that people have a permit from the state to carry a concealed weapon in Louisiana.

Governor Edwards vetoed a similar bill last year and was asked by FOX 8 if he is ready to do so again if the bill wins final approval.

“Yeah, well, first of all, my position on that bill hasn’t changed from last year. I don’t and by the way, two-thirds of the people of Louisiana agree that a permit should be required for concealed carry, most importantly to make sure that people who engage in that have had some level of training, safety training,” said Edwards.

Following the Texas school shooting, there are more calls for Congress to pass stronger gun laws and background check requirements.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican representing Louisiana on Capitol Hill, and Congressman Garret Graves, also a Republican, weighed on the calls for tougher gun laws.

“What happened in Texas was a tragedy, unfortunately, whenever we have a mass shooting, it’s an opportunity for some people in Washington to demagogue the issue. In my opinion, we don’t need more gun control in America, we need more idiot control,” said Kennedy.

“H.R. 8, the bill that Speaker Pelosi and others are talking about right now, not a damn thing it would have done to stop the disgusting attacks that happened in New York, that happened in Texas, the Parkland High School shooting,” said Graves.

Kennedy is open to considering federal legislation on guns and people with mental issues.

“And I suspect we’re going to have some legislation to try to address keeping guns out of the hands of crazy people, and I’m certainly going to consider very carefully. But look, if gun control worked, if gun control laws worked, Chicago would be Mayberry and it’s not. We need to focus on mental health and the angry young that are doing this stuff,” said Kennedy.

Graves said, “We have to make sure that guns don’t get in the wrong hands. So would I absolutely support something that supports the Second Amendment but also ensures that we extract lessons learned and prevent weapons from getting in those folk’s hands? Yeah, absolutely.”

In other parts of the country, kids walked out of school saying they have had enough of the gun violence, and they want action to be taken.

“Let’s be clear, I have three kids and so absolutely they’re right, they deserve to be protected, they deserve school to be a safe space and that’s why we’ve got to look at these attacks and others and make sure that we impose solutions that actually work,” said Graves.

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