And Then There Were 28: Louisiana Becomes Most Recent State to Pass Constitutional-Carry Law

Louisiana became the 28th state to pass legislation allowing the carry of handguns without a permit, often referred to as "constitutional carry." The law, originally Louisiana Senate Bill 1, was signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry.

While the usual suspects will doubtless start clutching pearls and hand-wringing over this new law, the 27 previous states to have passed these permitless carry laws — including my own Alaska — have managed to survive without mayhem and piles of corpses in the streets. Most recently, in Ohio, which passed a similar permitless carry law in 2022, crimes committed with firearms have declined in six of that state's major metropolitan areas.

Constitutional carry was a campaign promise Governor Landy made during his gubernatorial bid, arguing that, along with some of his other intended policies, it would help reduce Louisiana's, and particularly New Orleans' rising crime rates. As of the day he signed this bill into law, he had been in office for 57 days.

Violent crime skyrocketed in Louisiana’s top tourist city of New Orleans, for example, in 2022, when the city recorded a homicide rate of 70 per 100,000 people. Violent crimes have since dropped in the city.

Landry, who was sworn in as governor just this year, has urged the passage of tough-on-crime policies to further drive down crime in the state, and he vowed on the campaign trail last year to pass constitutional carry if elected governor.

Louisiana had already allowed open carry, the unconcealed carry of a sidearm by residents legally allowed to own a firearm. While open carry laws have a longer history than laws allowing permitless concealed carry, it's arguable that concealed carry, whether or not it requires a permit, has a greater preventive effect on violent crime than open carry.

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The Heat Is Turned Up on Rep. Summer Lee After 'Dear White Staffers' Instagram Account Owner Is Revealed

Back in November, we reported how some members of the infamous Hamas Caucus were going to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), begging him to call off powerful critics of their anti-Israel rhetoric amid announcements that they were receiving formidable primary challengers in 2024.

Among those facing competition in the primary is Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.). Along with her fellow Squad members, Lee has been in the hot seat since the Hamas-instigated war with Israel began on October 7th. Though the 12th Congressional District she represents is home to a large Jewish population (and is where the Tree of Life Synagogue is located), Lee joined the "ceasefire now" chorus early on.

In the midst of all the incoming she's facing, Lee has gone strangely silent after it was reported Tuesday that the person behind the popular D.C.-based "Dear White Staffers" Instagram account, which went from being a grievance account for overworked and underpaid Hill staffers to an anti-Israel bash-fest after 10/7, has been narrowed down to... someone in Lee's office.

Jewish Insider also noted that Lee's office did not respond to their media inquiries. Though the JI didn't directly identify the staffer in question, Free Beacon named who they say is the person behind the account: Publicly, Philip Bennett serves as operations director for Squad member Rep. Summer Lee (D., Pa.), a role in which he works closely with the congresswoman on scheduling and operation.

The account gained popularity in 2022 as an outlet for staffers to gripe about their bosses behind the veil of anonymity and to share "horror stories" from the halls of Congress.

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