State Rep. Mandie Landry (D) introduced House Bill 247 to combat needless tragedies involving firearms, and it makes sense. So much sense that every single lawmaker in both chambers of the legislature threw their support behind it.
That’s right. It sailed through the House and Senate of Louisiana, which is firmly in the corner of gun rights, without a single nay vote. It only needs the signature of Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) to become state law.
If and when that happens, Louisiana gun owners will receive up to a $500 tax credit if they choose to purchase a gun safe, firearm safety lock, or another gun storage safety mechanism. It makes perfect sense and is not just another draconian regulation intended to bring the hammer down onto law-abiding citizens.
Landry expressed her support for her proposal in a press release. “Responsible gun ownership and safe storage are issues that unite everyone. Preventing unnecessary death and theft are priorities that we all agree we should work on together.”
She added that “we need to promote more ways to get people knowing how to use and store guns safely, because no one wants to be the parent whose child gets ahold of an unlocked gun.” Amen.
The representative also found a way to put a measure forward that, for once, does not penalize upstanding citizens while ignoring criminals who cause such chaos and pain. It is a voluntary plan that offers incentives to be safe and practical gun owners.
In other words, something that everyone can get behind. And everyone did.
HB 247 reached the House floor in May and breezed through with an overwhelming bipartisan 100-0 vote. The bill picked up support from even the staunchest Second Amendment proponents in the lower chamber.
Not to be outdone, the Louisiana State Senate swept the measure through last weekend with a 37-0 vote, meaning the bill now heads to the governor’s office for final approval.
The measure sunsets at the end of 2027 but could easily be extended by lawmakers if it is popular and effective.
This comes at a time when millions of Americans are purchasing firearms, and many for the first time. Emphasizing and incentivizing safe storage, especially without heavy-handed edicts, is the best way to promote the critical importance of safety.
Louisiana is not the only state to get on board with incentivizing gun owners to purchase safety accessories. Earlier this year, a similar measure sailed through the Virginia legislature before being signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). This version of the law gives up to $300 in tax credits for the purchase of a firearm storage device.
The results in the Commonwealth were almost unanimous as well. The Virginia General Assembly approved the bill 98-1 while the state Senate passed it unanimously 40-0.
As sponsor Delegate Alphonso Lopez (D) observed, “This bill is not about requiring people to do anything. It’s not about banning anything. It’s not taking anything away. This bill simply gives a tax credit to try and incentivize something that many law-abiding gun owners already do.”
The U.S. Supreme Court in the Heller case ruled that mandatory firearm storage laws were unconstitutional. That being said, it does not in any way diminish the importance of safe storage by responsible gun owners, and no one pushes this fact more strongly than the firearms industry.
Project ChildSafe, the primary effort by the industry to promote safe gun ownership, has been an unparalleled success. The effort has distributed over 40 million free firearm safety kits, including cable locking devices, through a partnership with over 15,000 local law enforcement agencies.
That is something every law-abiding gun owner can be proud of.
