The New Orleans’ Police Superintendent is playing political games to try to stop lawful citizens from carrying firearms in one popular tourist area, despite the fact that state lawmakers just passed a constitutional carry law this spring.
New Gov. Jeff Landry just signed the state’s “permitless” carry law into effect on March 5, rolling back the requirement for citizens to acquire a permit to carry a concealed firearm for self-defense. Now, however, Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick is playing fast and loose with the new law to try to keep people—except criminals, of course—from carrying a gun in the famed French Quarter.
According to an Associated Press report, on July 1, a police station in the French Quarter was designated a vocational technical school. Since state law forbids carrying a concealed weapon within 1,000 feet of a school, the move outlaws firearm possession in the immediate area, which includes a stretch of Bourbon Street.
It seems that Superintendent Kirkpatrick isn’t just intending to use the law as a prevention method to keep people from carrying in the area. According to the AP report, Kirkpatrick said that designating the 8th District station a school is just one way of giving police officers more leeway to stop and search people suspected of carrying a weapon in the Quarter.
Rather than admit that officials had found a way to skirt the intent of the constitutional carry law, District Attorney Jason Wilson preferred a more devious description of the move.
“I wouldn’t call it a work-around,” Williams told reporters during a recent press conference. “It’s using laws that have always been on the books to deal with a real and current threat to public safety.”
Among those opposing the school designation is State Attorney General Liz Murrill, who said city leaders overstepped their bounds in making the move.
“I’m working hard to help keep New Orleans safe, but the city cannot avoid state law by unilaterally designating police stations ‘vo-tech locations,’” Murrill said in a released statement. “That’s just not how our community college and vocational-technical system is set up. Among other implications, if it was one (it’s not) the police department would be under the jurisdiction of a board of supervisors for higher education, and it would be subject to other oversight requirements.”
Still, city leaders seemed pleased with themselves for coming up with such an ingenious idea to further infringe on the constitutional rights of lawful citizens.
“Ultimately what we realized was, ‘You know what? What we need is a school,’” City Council President Helena Moreno glibly told the AP.
Because nobody has ever sold, bought or used drugs or shot at, been shot at or killed in a school zone.
They work great.
Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick, and City Council President Helena Moreno need to spend a few nights in jail, to help adjust their attitudes. Charge them with “fraud”.
I’m sure they have accredidation papers for that technical school of theirs, right?
What vocation are they teaching? Debauchery? Drunkenness? showing one’s breasts to get paid in beads?
Exactly. They cannot just “designate” something a school.
Carry there, get arrested, challenge the insanity. It will fall like a house of cards.
New orleans is a cesspool and the powers that be will stoop to any low to advance their agendas. The best thing to do is stay away from the entire new orleans area. The politicians(and they ain’t all democrats) in new orleans think the lives of good citizens are of little/if any value. They blame guns and refuse to hold criminals accountable. The arguments they use to defend their positions is hard to listen to and take seriously.
The new CC law does not prevent the L E Os from doing their job. If this is allowed to stand, it will just be a matter of time before many other areas are also labelled as schools and all of which violates the state’s preemption law already in effect.
In short the pols/citizens of new orleans somehow think they are special and due special treatment. There is absolutely nothing special about them or the French Quarter. The French Quarter is just a string of bars and strip joints along with restaurants etc.
Going to be interesting to see what the Attorney General does about this foolishness.
The dems and the south are famous for denying civil and human rights. Hell, they fought a war to keep slavery.
Don’t lump all of the South in with the Dim-ocrats. Some Southerners fought a war to keep slavery, but most just fought to defend their homes, families, and communities.
Likewise, some Northerners fought to end slavery, while others fought because they were poor recent immigrants that got drafted, and others got tricked into fighting by the big business, big government, big bankers, and other interest groups.
You can’t discuss the CW without the slavery issue, but you can’t pretend it was the only issue at stake either. Take slavery off of the table, and pretty much everything else is a live issue that we are still wrestling with in the here and now. And reasonable people may — and do — differ on all of that other stuff.
It won’t hold water especially against an AG who is now Gov. of LA and the Current AG who is not going along with redefining School on the behalf of an agenda Rooted in Racism and Genocide called Gun Control.
Hang in there joey…TRUMP 2024.
I totally disagree with the non-constitutional creation of a false school zone. I also disagree with supporting a person who wants to “cancel” the U. S. Constitution. If Trump gets elected, Debbie W, you too will regret your vote. This country as we know it, even with its flaws, with be destroyed.
I’ve had fun in New Orleans. The first time I saw the King Tutankhamun exhibit was in the New Orleans Museum of Art. Last time I was there was for SHOT when they held it in the East every other year. Good food! Avoid the French Quarter unless you just have to have a Hurricane (the glass is a souvenir) and a T-shirt. Despite what I just said my Uncle Howard was murdered in New Orleans. Common street mugging. Weapon of choice was a knife. Apologies to the police superintendent, but her asswipe idea would be one more reason that my uncle couldn’t be armed. At that time a CCW was practically non-existent and Uncle Howard lived in Mississippi anyway. Kudos to Gov. Landry.
Defiance of the law, by folks sworn to uphold it. Shocker. Why, it’s almost like the Bill of Rights has been replaced some other instrument.
New Orleans is a sh*thole. Don’t go there.
Where’s its accreditation? Where’s its degree or certificate program? So, could a brothel (this IS New Orleans, after all) declare itself a vocational technical school? Teach young girls a “profession?” How would that go over?
Actually, seeing how education is going woke, including accreditation institutions, a brothel may well be more likely to get accreditation as a voc-tech school than a police station that taught actual courses.
An old Army buddy lives in NO. So I do go over there once or twice a year. Apologies to the police superintendent and politicians but I will be armed when going anywhere in NO. Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
New Orleans has had a corrupt police dept for many decades. As well as the city government.
Either will do anything for power control and profits. Which begs the question of how does this crap benefit the PD or politicians and who is profiting from this.
Only in Nola would they locate a school in the middle of a Public Dump.
Once an A.O., always an A.O. (Amazing/Outstanding 🙄). Surprised they didn’t designate it a religious or non-profit for tax implications.
Police Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick – a geriatric gadfly Karen, from Oakland and Chiraq and Puget Sound. Apparently, a huge job hopper (typical when ones incompetence shows its self DEI types move on/up. SUE the bumbo.
https://nola.gov/nopd/about-us/superintendent-of-police/
Sic Semper Tyrannis
The nicest part of this is that the AG explicitly warned them that anybody making arrests as a result of this “designation” would be subject to sec. 1983 lawsuits – and note that since they have been warned by the AG, they can’t claim qualified immunity.