Update on Carry in WMAs

[theonlytalkinggoat]

Another update...

Senator Miguez's office told me "the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission adopted some changes"

I think it's a start, but still violates existing state law.
4. Firearms
a. Firearms having live ammunition in the chamber, magazine, cylinder or clip when attached to firearms and crossbows cocked in the ready position are not allowed in or on vehicles, boats under power, motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, ATCs, WMA check stations, or in camping areas on WMAs. Firearms may not be carried on any area before or after permitted hours except in authorized camping areas and except as may be permitted for authorized trappers.
b. Firearms Rifles, shotguns, pre-charged pneumatic devices, and bows and arrows are not allowed on WMAs during closed seasons except on designated shooting ranges or as permitted for trapping and except as allowed permitted pursuant to R.S. 56:109(C) and for purposes of transport pursuant to R.S. 56:1691. Bows and broadhead arrows are not allowed on WMAs except during deer archery season, turkey season or as permitted for bowfishing. Active and retired law enforcement officers in compliance with POST requirements, federal law enforcement officers and holders of Louisiana concealed handgun permits or permit holders from a reciprocal state who are in compliance with all other state and federal firearms regulations Any person who meets the qualifications of R.S. 14:95(M) may possess firearms handguns on WMAs provided these firearms are not used for any hunting purpose.


Something else I didn't think about until recently,

Louisiana Revised Statutes Tit. 40, § 1796:​

No governing authority of a political subdivision shall enact after July 15, 1985, any ordinance or regulation more restrictive than state law concerning in any way the sale, purchase, possession, ownership, transfer, transportation, license, or registration of firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or ammunition


Since the LDWF is a governing authority, under the executive branch, it should not have the ability to regulate firearms, not intended for hunting, and, in combination with 56:1691, unless there is some other statute that overrules these two, I think the LDWF is exceeding it's authority.

 

[Xeon64]

Who can keep up with this crude! I just bring a gun on a WMA when camping. No one will know and they are not coming in my RV to look. If I have to use it I will ask for forgiveness for violating their jackboot thug laws. Every single one of us violates some type of law and we do not know we are even doing it because all these legislators do is pass law after law for decades. They do not even know what the LAW is. Have to hire a lawyer just to leave your damn house these days.

 

[Bigchillin83]

Who can keep up with this crude! I just bring a gun on a WMA when camping. No one will know and they are not coming in my RV to look. If I have to use it I will ask for forgiveness for violating their jackboot thug laws. Every single one of us violates some type of law and we do not know we are even doing it because all these legislators do is pass law after law for decades. They do not even know what the LAW is. Have to hire a lawyer just to leave your damn house these days.

This is true!!! I feel the same way!!!

Last WMA person I ran into I had to explain to him the diff in a motted duck and a mallard.. lol he was so confused about what kinda ducks I killed

 

[theonlytalkinggoat]

99% of the time, I would agree. The issue is, there are people out there, if they were to get in trouble, would put their livelihood in jeopardy. Even if they don't, who wants to go through all that? This is no different than the ATF, making and changing laws on a whim. These people aren't elected; they shouldn't be making laws like this.

Just like we follow the law, so should law enforcement.

What if I'm out hiking, in the off season, and I come across marijuana joe, tending to his stash? I know it's possible because I had a friend of mine that worked in SF on Barksdale, in the early 2000's. Their game wardens would come across someone's mature grow plot at least once a month. That's on a hardened, nuclear, military installation. Imagine what happens elsewhere, in the back woods of some WMA zone.

 

[JimmyJames]

This has been covered a few times

Conceal Carry on La. WMA's

Be aware of your rights. Don't let anyone tell you that you can not conceal carry on a WMA.

bayoushooter.com

Reading my replies, I sound kinda whiny. I still agree with myself, but in an annoyed kind of way.

I reached out to a Captain at LDWF and they said they would reach out to their legal team. This is what they responded with, this morning:

However, they follow with,
For safety purposes in certain areas of the WMA like the camp grounds where you may have other people using that area, or if you are traveling from your deer stand on an ATV, you cannot have it loaded with live ammunition and rounds in the chamber.
‍

Yea that's dumb. Campgrounds on WMAs are often primitive and abut game areas. I am not walking into the treeline unarmed to relieve myself only to get killed by a hog. Almost no one trains chambering drills in their draw, and I certainly won't remember to do so while getting charged by a feral hog.

Another update...

Senator Miguez's office told me "the Wildlife and Fisheries Commission adopted some changes"

I think it's a start, but still violates existing state law.
4. Firearms
a. Firearms having live ammunition in the chamber, and crossbows cocked in the ready position are not allowed in or on vehicles, boats under power, motorcycles, ATVs, UTVs, ATCs, WMA check stations, or in camping areas on WMAs.

Fully support this for hunting rifles, though not self defense pistols. Too many people throw their gun in the back of their truck and unload back at camp. Should do so the moment you get back to your vehicle. Crossbows not so much - unless you have a decocker it's not always feasible or safe to do so at your vehicle. That should be revised to allow unloaded crossbows with the safety on.

 

[theonlytalkinggoat]

The more I think about the responses I got from the LDWF, the more it sounds like they tell you one thing, then do another, because they always want that reason to be able to arrest you, in their back pocket, when they need it. This is the worst kind of law enforcement and why I left.

 

[charlie12]

Just to clarify, my DL reports Veteran as a result of DD214. I am not a retired vet.

But the question still is if the regulation applies to Veterans without a permit who can conceal carry when the regulation says "holders of Louisiana concealed handgun permit".

I think there are a few things you can't do with Vet carry that you need the CHP for

 

[drill sgt]

Just like the handout fliers that you might pickup at the counter in a sporting goods department that is for rules /regs/baging limits/etc. that even though they are put out by the LDWF and have the LDWF logos printed on them there has been a small print disclaimer as to this information printed within is not legal notice and advises everyone to actually read the current laws because you might be cited by a LDWF agent for a violation... Sportsman beware. .... drill sgt.

 

[Bigchillin83]

I have found a good bit of the time some of the people who uphold the law are the most ignorant of the law… just saying… I have ran into quite a few examples of this down in Venice WMA… not all are that bad but they tend to make a big smear on the ones who know and uphold the actual law.. but the same could be said about every profession…

 

[JimmyJames]

The more I think about the responses I got from the LDWF, the more it sounds like they tell you one thing, then do another, because they always want that reason to be able to arrest you, in their back pocket, when they need it. This is the worst kind of law enforcement and why I left.

It's felt like that for me more than once. When I first started I was confused about the primitive vs. rifle rules, and asked a game warden at Sherburne. Archery that year at the Sherburne WMA said either sex all through the season after October, while rifle had several periods of bucks only. He confirmed that for archery we could shoot either sex until end of season, whatever the rifle regulations were. Later on another hunter said this wasn't true, and Archery was restricted to bucks only on dates that rifles were. I ended up going back and reading the entire regulations book back to back, which is when I found the passage stating exactly that, in a completely different section of the book from both the deer hunting area and WMA season info. Maybe that warden was just ignorant, but maybe not.

They also sit around in their trucks near the camping areas during the week or so between when that hunting area's rifle season begins and the WMA's more restrictive season begins, waiting to ticket people who are confused and unaware WMAs have a more restrictive hunting season than the hunting area they're located in. The wardens don't seem inclined to talk to and educate people - just wait for them to walk into the woods holding a rifle or shotgun and then ticket them. I'm usually there already for Archery, and try to give a heads up to every person I see with a gun. Wish the game wardens would do the same.