Another bad bill on the Bayou
Dayne
Sherman
March 23, 2014
Column / 675 words
I
am rarely surprised by the antics of the Louisiana Legislature. This
session is by no means an exception.
There
is a bill banning the personal ownership of various snakes. Then
there are numerous bills related to the Common Core, an education
curriculum that is not well thought out and is backed by vulture
capitalists. I wonder how many of the legislators now up in arms
about the Common Core can read their own legislation? Probably few.
Locally,
we have our own Bad Bill on the Bayou, Rep. Chris Broadwater's HB244. It allows colleges and universities to “lease of property...
to nonprofit corporations or associations to hold fundraisers that
include the auctioning and sale of firearms.”
In
other words, selling guns on campus.
The
bill rolled through the House with 90 yes votes and only two souls
had enough guts to say no. In some ways, I respect both yes and no
votes, but there was a large peanut gallery of absent votes, often a
way to avoid being held accountable for taking a stance.
All
of our nearby representatives were on board. What a shame.
The
bill is currently pending Senate referral next week. So it goes from
one rogues' gallery to the next with hardly a hiccup in the process.
Part
of the pretense for the law is to raise money for cash-strapped
institutions. Louisiana is ranked number one in America for cuts to
higher education. With Gov. Jindal's heart set on destroying
Louisiana colleges and universities, cutting funding by 80 % with his
lapdog legislators doing whatever he desires, there is no doubt that
campuses will either receive lower funding during the next fiscal
year or stay just as bad off as before.
An
exasperated university faculty member wanted to know what's next? An
escort service (prostitution) coordinated by college campuses to
raise funds?
Please,
supporters and friends of “sinator” David Vitter, don't answer
the question.
Even
Hammond Mayor Mayson Foster is shilling for the gun bill. Really,
Mayor? Is that the legacy you want to leave for your three lackluster
terms in office?
The
real question is not why a Republican or a Democrat files foolish
bills. If a voter does not understand the bill writing process, I
will explain it in one sentence: A special interest group corrals a
“bill mule” to carry the legislation they have written or want
written, usually with promises of donations, and the legislator, or
“bill mule,” files the bill and carries it through the
legislative process.
No,
the real question is how citizens should respond?
To
start, they should think through the implications of bills and what
they do long term. I believe HB 244 will lead to college campuses
without gun restrictions.
In
the case of Rep. Broadwater's bill, how will parents of K-8 students
at the Southeastern Louisiana University Lab School feel about guns
being auctioned inside the Kiva, a nice sized room for a gun auction
if there ever was one? Will they want their children seeing gun
dealers and cops packing assault rifles to be auctioned on campus?
How
will college faculty, staff, and students react when they learn that
their formerly Firearm Free Zones are no longer that at all? Will
they rally statewide to fight the bill?
When
it comes to active civic engagement by Louisiana citizens, there are
more absentee votes than anything else.
I
am a hunter. I love to hunt and would rather be hunting or fishing
than writing a column on a bad bill. I just wish we could bring a
little common sense to gun legislation. Unfortunately, I am not
expecting common sense to rule as long as special interest groups
often outside of Louisiana own the legislative process.
Dayne Sherman resides in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. He covers the South like kudzu and promises that he never burned Atlanta. He is the author of Welcome to the Fallen Paradise: A Novel. His website is daynesherman.com.
////////////////////////////
Dayne
Sherman, Writer & Speaker
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