I’ve traveled the country on gun business, promoting books and getting involved in firearms politics. I have been amazed at the prevalence of statewide shooting associations in other states. I have often wondered why we did not have some sort of similar organization here in Louisiana. Certainly, we have enough shooters.
There are some 70,000 members of the National Rifle Association in Louisiana, and as we all know, only a small portion of those involved in the shooting sports belong to either the NRA or the SAF.
And perhaps that’s the problem. We’re too successful.
I have attended the Gun Rights Policy Conference, sponsored each year by the Second Amendment Foundation, and listened in amazement as speakers went to the microphone and proudly listed the accomplishments of their organizations gaining gun rights that we take for granted in Louisiana.
We are fortunate to live in a state with a legislature so gun-friendly. And that is part of the problem: We have become lax, and assume “it won’t happen here.”
Each year, certain contingents within the legislature introduce draconian anti-gun bills, including so-called “assault” weapons bills that are practically dead upon arrival. Few ever make it out of committee.
The shooting sports fraternity has become blasé about the dangers of laws limiting our shooting freedoms — and we rarely see any uproar over these bills.
Baton Rouge attorney Wade Duty, legislative liaison for the Louisiana Shooting Association, spoke at a recent luncheon in Baton Rouge that brought representatives of various shooting disciplines together.
“There were only 18 calls made to members of the House Administration of Criminal Justice Committee protesting this bill,” he said. “The bill was killed in committee, but folks, we don’t want to just kill these bills. We want to cut their heads off and bury them.”
And therein lies the rub: If we don’t raise Cain and start a firestorm of protest each time any sort of anti-gun bill is introduced, we will have no recourse when one eventually slips through.
Duty reminded everyone: “Make no mistake about it — one of these days, someone in that anti-gun contingent will craft a bill that is worded just right, and we will all be wondering what happened to our gun rights.”
Finally, someone is trying to do something about the lack of communication among the various disciplines in the shooting fraternity — it is called the Louisiana Shooting Association, and it is attempting to build a powerful coalition that can be used to hammer anti-gun bills when they are introduced.
That luncheon meeting was held to introduce the Louisiana Shooting Association to a group of involved shooters, self-defense instructors, concealed handgun license instructors and representatives from various shooting groups.
The LSA was founded in 1966 as the NRA state affiliate association sponsoring NRA competition such as high-power rifle and bullseye pistol, and it remained that until recently.
New president Dan Zelenka, an attorney from New Orleans, is casting a wide net in an attempt to bring shooters in all disciplines under one roof, thus gaining group strength to fight bad legislation, keep the membership apprised of activities in the various disciplines and become a clearinghouse of information on competitions, classes and legislation.
In short, the association wants to become the premier shooting association in Louisiana representing all disciplines.
Zelenka described how the association had filed an amicus brief in the Washington D.C. v. Heller case before the Supreme Court. This was the historical decision on the Second Amendment that held that the right to keep and bear arms is an individual right and that D.C. did not have the right to limit ownership of guns by its citizenry.
That decision led to a spate of lawsuits, the first soon to be heard before the Supreme Court, McDonald v. Chicago, will decide if the Second Amendment is applicable against state action. This case will decide if cities such as Chicago can ban gun ownership in light of the Constitution’s clear statement that the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed.”
In the McDonald case, the LSA has again joined 40 other state associations in filing an amicus brief for the plaintiff against the city of Chicago.
Closer to home, the LSA led a drive to organize the shooting community against a bill that would have severely limited some of the rights of concealed permit holders. Through their efforts, hundreds of shooters emailed, mailed and called the governor’s office in protest, and Gov. Jindal, being apprised of what the bill would actually do, vetoed it.
The LSA is making great strides in becoming the representative organization for all shooters in Louisiana. Each quarter its email newsletter apprises members of legislative issues facing gun owners, upcoming competitions in all aspects of the shooting sports and articles of interest to various types of shooters.
The LSA deserves your support. It’s only $10 to join, and it will be the best $10 you ever invested in the rights about which you are so passionate. You can go to louisianashooting.com to join.
Gordon Hutchinson’s best-selling, award-winning books are The Quest and the Quarry (www.thequestandthequarry.com) and The Great New Orleans Gun Grab (www.neworleansgungrab.com), co-authored with Todd Masson.
Both are available online or by calling the publisher at (800) 538-4355.
