Louisiana state senator takes aim at gun-free zones around UL Lafayette

State Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, is picking a fight with the University of Louisiana Lafayette over its new off-campus gun-free zones. He believes the designated areas could lead to a lawsuit that he foresees ending firearm restrictions entirely at all schools.

Miguez is a competitive marksman who has made a name for himself in the Legislature by carrying bills to loosen gun restrictions. He’s taken issue with the university for declaring gun-free zones at a museum it operates in downtown Lafayette and at two hotels where it is housing students because its on-campus dorms are at capacity.

The gun-free zone’s radius around the museum would make it a crime to carry a firearm in most of downtown.

Miguez has asked Attorney General Liz Murrill to issue an opinion regarding the university’s position that the three sites be kept gun-free.

In an interview Friday with conservative radio talk show host Moon Griffon, Miguez said ULL’s stance could spur gun rights advocates to file a lawsuit, which he speculated could result in Louisiana’s law prohibiting guns on or near school property being struck down as unconstitutional.

The university’s announcement last week that its campus police would patrol and enforce a 1,000-foot gun-free school zone around the UL Lafayette Science Museum became a source of contention with the Acadiana senator, who believes it would be a violation of state law.

“[Lafayette Consolidated Government and the University of Louisiana Lafayette] together are making a decision to violate citizens [sic] civil rights through resuming enforcement of their position that the Lafaytte [sic] Science Museum is ‘school property’ in order to accomplish their goal of making downtown Lafayette a gun free zone,” Miguez posted Friday on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.

“To add insult to injury, ULL is now also declaring contracted private hotels used for student housing as ‘school property’ to trigger more gun free zones across Lafayette Parish,” Miguez added.

Miguez did not respond to a request for comment for this report.

Louisiana’s law prohibiting firearms in school zones defines a school as “any public or private elementary, secondary, high school, or vocational-technical school, college or university.” It defines a campus as all facilities and property within the boundary of the school property.

@LCGTweets and @ULLafayette together are making a decision to violate citizens civil rights through resuming enforcement of their position that the Lafaytte Science Museum is “school property” in order to accomplish their goal of making downtown Lafayette a gun free zone.
To… https://t.co/1u8s9BRUMV
— Blake Miguez (@BlakeMiguezLA) August 23, 2024

The two hotels ULL is using for overflow student housing are exclusively rented to the university, meaning no other guests are staying on the property. One of the hotels is within the gun-free zone of the Episcopal School of Acadiana, university spokesman Eric Maron said.

Murrill has previously posted online that she does not believe the museum to qualify as a gun-free zone, but she has not weighed in regarding the two hotels.

The university has not yet responded to questions about their legal reasoning for defining the hotels as gun-free zones.

In his letter to Murrill requesting an opinion, Miguez raised concerns that the university’s stance could lead to a slippery slope.

“Situations could arise where a school might assert that its ‘campus’ is anywhere where school business takes place,” Miguez wrote. “This could be a privately owned field where LSU conducts an anthropological dig, a convention center rented by Tulane to host a scientific conference, or a golf course where the university president regularly plays with potential donors.”

Louisiana law allows public officials to request opinions from the attorney general, who usually responds within 30 days. In July, Murrill issued 12 opinions, which are position statements that do not have the force of law but can influence government decision making.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and X.