Illegal firearms arrests have fallen in the French Quarter, and an anti-crime group says it knows why, and says the solution is pretty simple.
“Just in the month of November alone, there’s an 80 percent decrease in gun arrests,” Greg Rusovich, local businessman and part of the NOLA Coalition, told WWL’s Newell Normand.
Rusovich says it’s because Louisiana’s “constitutional carry” law allows anyone to carry a gun without needing a permit that shows they’ve had a background check and basic gun safety instruction.
“That is hampering where the officers cannot walk up to the individual with a gun protruding or whatever and then talk to them about why they have a gun and then check their records and things of that sort,” he said.
Rusovich says the NOLA Coalition’s numbers comes from the Metro Crime Commission and the NOPD. He says they have already started conversations with lawmakers about creating an exception for the French Quarter, and giving back to NOPD and state police a useful probative policing tool.