Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards vetoed the state’s constitutional carry bill. While he tends to be one of the more pro-gun Democrats (yes, they exist), he clearly wasn’t pro-gun enough.

Since then, the legislature has been considering an override.

Now, a number of law enforcement officers are asking them to do no such thing.

Law enforcement across Louisiana are holding a news conference Thursday urging the Louisiana legislature not to vote to override a concealed carry bill that Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed during the regular session.

The news conference will be held in Baton Rouge with multiple law enforcement officers in attendance.

A proposal to allow Louisiana residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit was rejected by Edwards, as anticipated.

Law enforcement officials say vetoing the bill is dangerous, as it would eliminate permits needed.

“The LEOs will discuss how the override of the veto would lead to more dangerous crimes throughout communities,” a news release issued on behalf of the Louisiana Law Enforcement Coalition. said. “A recent survey found that 80 percent of the people of Louisiana support requiring a permit for concealed carry weapons.”

Popularity for something doesn’t mean it’s right that it exists.

We’re talking about people’s rights here. We have a right to keep and bear arms and have that right un-infringed. Requiring permits isn’t consistent with that, and I don’t really care what anyone says to the contrary.

As for these officers’ concerns, I get it. As things stand now, if they find someone with a gun, they can ask for a permit. If someone doesn’t have one, they can arrest them. Remove the permit requirement and they lose that tool.

However, 21 other states have this law, and guess what didn’t happen? That’s right. There was no corresponding surge in violent crime unique to these states that can truthfully be attributed to constitutional carry.

In other words, while I understand their fears, they’re non-factors.

Further, these officers don’t necessarily speak for all the officers in the state. Police officers are like any other group of people. Get enough of them and you’ll find just about every position known to man within their ranks. Finding a number of officers who oppose constitutional carry wouldn’t be overly difficult, but it also wouldn’t necessarily be representative of the overall beliefs of their fellow officers.

In other words, a number of police officers standing there saying a thing isn’t enough to convince me that all officers in the state oppose it.

Again, not that it would matter if they did. This is about our basic civil rights. In particular, our right to keep and bear arms. That should be all the permitting required.

It’s my most sincere hope that the state does override this veto. The people of Louisiana deserve better than to continually have to get government permission just to carry a tool designed for self-defense. While such a change may make things a bit more challenging for law enforcement (and I stress “may” make them more challenging), that’s no excuse to tangle with a fundamental civil right.