Bill aims to limit access to ammo
from: The Time Picayune

BATON ROUGE, LA, May 9th, 2008 …

BATON ROUGE -- Individuals who provide ammunition to convicted felons should wind up behind bars for up to five years, the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice decided Thursday.

Without objection, the panel approved House Bill 73 by Rep. Austin Badon Jr., D-New Orleans, and sent it to the full House for debate. Badon said the bill is designed to make it a crime for those who help felons, who cannot legally own weapons, obtain ammunition.

The bill calls for a fine of $1,000 to $5,000 and up to five years in prison. The committee amended the bill to take out a mandatory one-year in jail for the offender at the request of Rep. Gary Smith, D-Norco, who said judges should have leeway in sentencing someone to prison.

"What I want to get away from is just that slap on the wrist" when streets are unsafe now, Badon said.

On another gun-related issue, the panel gave unanimous support to House Bill 399 by Rep. Ernest Wooton, R-Belle Chasse, its chairman, that would require persons seeking state-issued concealed weapons permits take firearms safety courses and gun training within a year of applying for the permits.

Wooton said the process is now open-ended and a permit-seeker can apply with an old certificate of training. "We want . . . to get them while it is still fresh in their minds," Wooton said.

Wooton's bill, which now heads to the House floor, also would invalidate a concealed-handgun permit issued by another state if that person moves to Louisiana and has committed an offense punishable by at least a year in jail.

The panel also sent to the House floor House Bill 1311 by Rep. Erich Ponti, R-Baton Rouge, to permit United States attorneys in the state, their assistants and investigators to carry concealed weapons provided they are trained and certified like other law enforcement agents. Ponti's bill now heads to the House floor.

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