The Lafayette Police Department will enforce the 1,000-foot gun-free school zone around the UL Lafayette Science Museum in Downtown Lafayette, clarifying more than a week of confusion around how Louisiana’s firearm free zones work.
“We are going to enforce [the 1,000-foot gun-free zone] because it is a school,” says Mayor-President Monique Boulet. That position would seem to shift or clarify an announcement last week that left enforcement of the zone to the university’s police department.
The Boulet administration has deferred to UL’s declaration that the museum is part of its campus and thus a firearm-free zone. UL operates the museum, but the building is owned by the City of Lafayette. This latest clarification splits duties: The UL Police Department will police the museum itself and the immediate area around it due to a 2022 corporate endeavor agreement with the city. LPD is responsible for the 1,000-foot radius around the building, enforcing that area just like LPD does any other school.
“[UL PD] is not going to enforce the law on the street; they don’t have jurisdiction over Jefferson Street around the Science Museum,” says Boulet. “The reality is, if it’s a school, that’s the law, [LPD] is supposed to enforce the law.”
The issue has gone back and forth over the past week. This week’s comments from Boulet come on the heels of an Aug. 16 press release where LCG pushed responsibility to the university and did not define its own role. The release came after pushback from state Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, and Attorney General Liz Murrill, who argued the museum is not a school under state law.
“The law on Gun-Free School Zones is narrow. The Lafayette Science Museum downtown does not fall under it. I want to thank Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Monique Boulet for directing the Lafayette Police Department to refrain from taking actions against law-abiding individuals on the basis of violating this improperly posted gun-free school zone,” Murrill said in a statement.
The matter of enforcement has been confusing since LPD announced Aug. 12 that the museum campus was a gun-free zone. This set off disputes among officials in public and private as agencies tried to interpret the details of jurisdiction concerning permitless carry.
“What is part of their campus is their decision. We’re trying to enforce the law the way it is set up to be enforced.”
M-P Monique Boulet
“What is part of their campus is their decision,” says Boulet. “We’re trying to enforce the law the way it is set up to be enforced.”
This puts the ball in UL’s court when it comes to designating school zones, but LPD is prepared to enforce the 1,000-foot gun-free zones once UL makes that designation.
As the situation stands, LPD will enforce all gun-free zones on the map it sent out using state law RS 14:95.6, which makes permitless concealed carry within a school zone illegal. This makes most of Downtown Lafayette a permitless carry-free zone.
Using the same law, UL is labeling all student housing as gun-free zones akin to the museum.
“All university housing falls under RS 14:95.6 as well; this includes the newly rented hotels that are considered extensions of our student housing,” a UL spokesman told The Current.
Permitless carry in a school zone is a felony. Real consequences are in play, while officials still look to clarify jurisdictions and definitions.