An effort by UL Lafayette to establish a gun-free zone around its Downtown Lafayette Science Museum has been thwarted — for now.
The museum recently put up signs advising its designation as a “safe school zone,” which would mean carrying guns within 1,000 feet of the building would be prohibited.
The Current reported this week that the designation, along with the concentration of schools in Downtown Lafayette, would have effectively put the entire district off limits. The same goes for areas around UL.
The Current has since confirmed that Precinct Capt. David LeBlanc, whose precinct covers the Downtown area, sent an email Tuesday telling officers not to enforce the rule due to legal concerns.
According to the email, that directive came from the LCG legal department along with interim Chief Paul Trouard. KADN’s Wednesday story placed the responsibility for the decision on Mayor-President Monique Boulet, but Boulet’s role in the enforcement halt is unclear. LCG has not responded to a request for comment by The Acadiana Advocate/The Current.
The museum isn’t the only place where there have been efforts to establish a new “safe school zone” outside of a traditional school campus since a new statewide law allowing the concealed carrying of a gun without a permit went into effect in early July.
The New Orleans Police Department developed a plan to house a vocational school at its French Quarter station, creating a safe school zone covering much of the Quarter. The department and local officials in support of the effort received pushback from Attorney General Liz Murrill and state Sen. Blake Miguez (R-New Iberia), author of the permitless concealed-carry bill, but after a meeting with the AG decided to move forward with their plans.
Miguez expressed content with the decision to hold off on enforcing a “safe school zone” in Downtown Lafayette on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. “Lafayette is not New Orleans. Just stop already,” Miguez said in a post Tuesday evening, after the email was sent out to LPD officers.
“The law on Gun-Free Schools Zones is narrow. The Lafayette Science Museum downtown does not fall under it,” Murrill said in a statement. “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.”
Both the French Quarter and Downtown Lafayette are hubs for local nightlife in their respective cities, prompting a high police presence on weekend nights. As such, both areas are also home to many bars, where carrying a firearm is prohibited.
Still, Sgt. Robin Green with the LPD said enforcing laws on the ownership and carrying of firearms hasn’t been a priority for LPD officers patrolling Downtown. “There’s a lot of people between Friday and Saturday nights that do frequent that area, and there are people that do carry firearms,” the spokeswoman said. “That’s not why [officers] are out there.”