Louisiana
Louisiana poised to expand permitless concealed carry; will New Orleans be exempt?
Louisiana lawmakers are poised to expand a new law allowing law-abiding adults to carry concealed guns without permits even before it takes effect and are resisting efforts to create more gun-free zones, including within the tourist district of New Orleans.
The Legislature passed and new Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a bill by GOP New Iberia Sen. Blake Miguez to allow permitless concealed carry beginning on July 4 during a February Special Session designed to address the state’s crime problem.
Now lawmakers are advancing bills by Miguez that would allow permitless carry in restaurants that serve alcohol (Senate Bill 214) and make businesses subject to a $1,000 fine if they deny entry to an off-duty police officer carrying a concealed gun (Senate Bill 233).
Miguez said his bills, which now head to the full House for debate, largely will provide consistency to protect law-abiding citizens.
“We want to make sure law-abiding citizens who are good guys know what law is in every part of the state to avoid confusion,” he said while testifying on his bills in the House Criminal Justice Committee Wednesday.
All of the bills have already cleared the full Senate.
The House Criminal Justice Committee Wednesday also advanced Senate Bill 43 by Republican Covington Sen. Patrick McMath to allow retired reserve law enforcement officers to carry concealed weapons at any public place in the state. Current law only allows retired regular full-time law enforcement officers the privilege.
Meanwhile, the same committee stalled House Bill 498 by Democratic New Orleans Rep. Alonzo Knox to create a gun-free zone for the tourist district in New Orleans and killed House Bill 750 by Democratic New Orleans Rep. Aimee Freeman to create gun-free zones at childcare centers and nursing homes.
Knox agreed to defer his bill to allow him to try to make changes that would give the measure a chance of passage.
New Orleans City Council Vice President Helena Moreno and members if the city police department and parish sheriff’s office testified in favor of the gun-free zone that would include the French Quarter, Convention Center and Downtown Development District.
“This is really about supporting the New Orleans Police Department … and try to prevent any incidents that could result in mass casualties,” Moreno said.
Knox played emotional news video footage of a family grieving the loss of their daugher in a Sunday shooting in New Orleans that left the daugher dead and 11 wounded.
But those opposing the bill said gun-free zones don’t stop criminals from carrying guns or using them for violence.
“This would become a zone where law-abiding citizens would be completely defenseless,” said Dan Zelenka of the Louisiana Shooting Association. “I can’t see anything about this bill that is good for law-abiding citizens.”
More: What will Louisiana’s concealed carry gun expansion mean for law-abiding adults, criminals?
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1
That pageant feeds into the Miss Louisiana pageant, which is part of the Miss America system. The winner of Miss Louisiana Saturday night will move on to the Miss America pageant.
Addison’s pageant platform is encouraging girls to build confidence in themselves — Confidence to Career, Jackson said.
“She competed last night for the preliminary in talent and on stage question and will compete tonight in beauty and fitness,” Jackson said.
On Saturday at the beginning of the pageant, the field will be cut to 11 contestants, and then the top five.
“One of the top five will get a crown,” Jackson said.
The preliminary competitions and the pageant will be streamed on MissLouisiana.com and the Saturday pageant will be broadcast live on KNOE-TV.
“They let me see her for five minutes yesterday,” she said. “This is the experience of a lifetime. She is making friendships and relationships that will last a lifetime. We are so proud of her. Addison is such a sweet girl.”
She is the youngest of three sisters, Allison and Anna Claire Jackson.
Angela said her husband, Craig Jackson, is particularly excited and proud of all three of his daughters.
“He’s a great girl dad,” she said. “They think he hung the moon, and he did.”
Louisiana
After redistricting battles, Southern gathers for Juneteenth celebration: ‘Continue the fight’
Hundreds of community members, alumni and students gathered Thursday to observe Juneteenth on the Southern University campus in Baton Rouge.
The theme of the festivities was “celebrating freedom through culture and community,” but weeks after Louisiana’s bitter redistricting battles, the speakers Thursday morning had one message driving their remarks: Get out and vote.
“Freedom does not come in on the wheels of inevitability,” Louisiana Supreme Court Associate Justice John Michael Guidry said to the crowd. “But it takes the prodigious work and the tireless efforts of those who are willing to continue the fight.”
Great Beginnings summer camper Myni, 4, gets a hello kitty face painting during Southern’s Juneteenth celebration on Thursday, June 18, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
The speech kicked off a day of discussions and cultural events centered on the holiday of Juneteenth, which commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Gen. Gordon Granger brought news of emancipation to enslaved people in Texas more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Speakers at Southern emphasized the need for protection of hard-won rights for Black Americans in the context of redistricting. The sentiments followed a contentious state legislative session that ended with the elimination of one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black congressional districts after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais.
“That Voting Rights Act is under attack,” Guidry said. “There’s voter intimidation, there’s voter suppression, there are voter ID laws and all types of laws and legal decisions that are trying to deny us our right to vote, and we are the ones who have to go forward and litigate these issues.”
The day opened with a libation ceremony and a rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by Southern University student Claire Floyd.
Southern University alumnus Jeanet Cazenave said she felt it was important to celebrate Juneteenth on campus as not only a relative of the first dean of Southern University but also a descendant of the GU272, a group of enslaved individuals who were sold to plantations in Louisiana in 1838 by Jesuit priests to pay the debts of what is now Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Juneteenth “means everything,” Cazenave said. “It means the past, the present and the future.”
BATON ROUGE, La. (KLFY) — Governor Landry has officially declared Louisiana under state of emergency.
The state emergency declaration covers Avoyelles, Lafourche, Pointe Coupee, St. Landry, St. Tammany and Terrebonne parishes.
The declaration was issued Thursday following the impacts of Tropical Storm Arthur, which brough rainfall and strong storms to parts of the state on June 17 and 18.
Officials said the National Weather Service has confirmed three tornadoes tied to the storm system.
Officials also reported record or near-record rainfall totals in Avoyelles and Pointe Coupee parishes over a 12-hour period.
The order allows the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to coordinate resources and provide assistance to local governments if needed.
Certain state purchasing and bidding requirements have been temporarily suspended to speed up emergency response efforts.
The declaration took effect immediately and will remain in place through July 18 unless it is lifted or extended.
State officials are urging residents to stay weather aware, avoid flooded roadways and follow guidance from local emergency managers.
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