Guns in Church? Jindal Signs Louisiana Bill into Law

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Domestic Issues

(Credit: AP)

The Internet is abuzz today over word that Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has singed that allows people with concealed-weapons permits to bring weapons into churches and other houses of worship.

The bill does not allow people to simply walk into a church packing heat, however. According to the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, individuals must pass a background check and undergo eight hours of training per year if they want to bring weapons to houses of worship; the idea seems to be that they would serve something like a de facto security force.

In addition, the head of the religious institution - be it a church, synagogue, mosque or anything else - must announce to congregants that the weapons are being wielded for security purposes.

The bill, which will reportedly go into effect on August 15th, is the brainchild of Republican state Rep. Henry Burns, who argues that houses of worship in rough neighborhoods need the protection that a concealed-weapons security force could provide.

The legislation also extends the period to have a concealed weapons permit from four to five years and gives houses of worship the option to hire off duty police or other security forces. It was one of hundreds of measures signed into law by the Republican governor.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by ldesigns March 8, 2011 10:46 PM EST: This is not a sign of moving forward. People wake up, speak up. This bill should never have been allowed to pass. I am truly disappointed to read such foolishness and will be looking into what other ridiculous bills he has signed. This governor, lawmakers and the residents have a lot to learn.; Reply to this comment


by mlarzelere July 9, 2010 9:14 PM EDT: Having NRA members bring guns to church would make perfect sense. As long as they're in a place of worship, they might as well bring with them the idol that they worship.; Reply to this comment

by BB67-z July 9, 2010 5:02 PM EDT

The real question should be "Why does this governor think he has any authority to allow or deny anyone that has a concealed carry license the right to carry ANYWHERE except state-owned property?" He doesn't own the church. The church itself can make that decision. Who is he to say "you can carry in church" when we have this "separation of church and state?" He has no authority to make a law that says it's legal or illegal to carry in church. Especially in a church.

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by satchmo91 January 8, 2011 2:16 PM EST: Jindal isn't giving them right to carry weapons, he is removing the old law that prohibits it. States, like Georgia, ban weapons in churches. THAT'S the real violation of authority here, not Jindal who is taking the government out of churches by doing this (to an extent), you're right that the ""legislature" should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," but the phrase "separation of Church and State" is widely misunderstood.


by babooph July 8, 2010 4:56 PM EDT: I notice from so many posts that there must be many dangerous ,deluded ,paranoid nut cases in the churches-I guess the minority needs protection...; Reply to this comment


by pensacola8-2009 July 8, 2010 4:56 PM EDT: I guess people going to church really feel insecure and helpless and REALLY NEED THOSE CONCEALED GUNS. Then, they can go to their favorite restaurants afterwards and eat until their bulging weapons under their clothes begin to show. Then, they go home and learn they were robbed. At least their guns weren't stolen.; Reply to this comment


by yeeoflittlefaith July 8, 2010 4:40 PM EDT: Very Christian !?; Reply to this comment

by tmittelstaed July 8, 2010 4:08 PM EDT

When you read this you really need to keep in mind that the top 3 largest cities in Louisiana, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, & Shreveport, experienced a NEGATIVE growth rate in the last decade. New Orleans alone shrunk by FORTY PERCENT. This is during a decade which saw the entire US population increase by almost 100 million.

Sure, New Orleans has Katrina it can blame (and the fact is that the majority of people there did NOT carry flood insurance and so couldn't afford to rebuild) but that doesen't explain the decreases in the other cities. and it wasn't just the big 3 in LA. Lake Charles, Kenner, Monroe, & Alexandria all lost people, too, during the last decade.

And it is the TYPE of population loss that has really hurt the most. It's the young, more intelligent, and more wealthy people who have fled. The people who have stayed cannot afford to move.

The truth is that LA is a much less pleasant place to live in nowadays than it was a decade ago. The best people are gone and the worst have stayed behind, the state has lost tax revenue and is facuing huge projected deficits, it's government is staggeringly bloated, even the Democrats there in the state are saying that. You can imagine how crime in this atmosphere has risen.

It's just not a very pleasant place to live in. Before judging them too harshly, imagine living and working in a place that every year all the costs you pay go up, and every year the wages you make go down, because the sales of the company you work for are dropping. And every neighborhoos has empty, foreclosed homes in it.

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by pensacola8-2009 July 8, 2010 5:11 PM EDT: I lived near New Orleans and worked there for 7 months and left after continuous series of negative encounters. You turn on the radio and someone on nearly every station was talking about taking away a citizen's rights over something petty and ridiculous. You turn on the TV and newscasters are sporting the idea of oppressing people and taking their rights away. People were simply entertaining theirselves by talking about whose rights they could take away through legislation.

One thing was clear to me. I didn't have to live and work there to pay taxes and make those nightmares possibly happen.

I can even remember the realtors showing houses to me and flashing a wink at me when we talked about schools and crime as she was showing homes to me in affluent areas.

Constitutional law in Lousiana is discussed like a most unfortunate thing. Every undereducated loud mouth finds access to a radio or TV studio and sometmes a church pulpit and entertains removing more rights from people to an anxious audience of robots listening for their marching orders.

No wonder, few desire to live there.


by pepperrl July 8, 2010 3:03 PM EDT: i think that if you have a CONCEALED weapon it should stay CONCEALED and therefore nobody will know you even have one! there should be no problem what-so-ever if you have a concealed weapon if you have all of the proper permits to allow you to have the weapon on you. you could be in the grocery store and someone could have a gun on them and if they are responsible & follow the rules in having a concealed weapon permit you would never know. so i think everyone who is against this completely rediculous.; Reply to this comment

by troutfishyman July 8, 2010 2:55 PM EDT

And the conservative nut-brigade marches on....

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by satchmo91 January 8, 2011 2:21 PM EST: How very nut-brigade-ish of the government lifting the ban on concealed carry in a private place of worship. Especially when 1) Church is private and what is done inside those walls is up to the leaders of the Church and 2) there have been 403 deadly force incidents in a faith-based organisation in the last 11 years (source: http://www.carlchinn.com/Church_Security_Concepts.html) How nasty those conservatives.