Abbeville City Council to look at 30-year-old gun ordinance

The Abbeville City Council is taking a step to review a nearly 30-year-old ordinance that makes it illegal to openly carry a gun in the city limits.
The issue at hand is that the Louisiana Constitution, after a constitutional amendment voted on in 2012, says that gun possession is “a fundamental right with the same protections as freedom of speech, press, and the right to vote.”
State law supersedes city ordinances, so Abbeville’s gun ordinance, which dates back to July 15, 1986, is not enforceable.
“The city ordinance has been superseded by the state statute,” City Attorney Ike Funderburk said. “Our city ordinance is not going to be enforced.”
Funderburk advised the Abbeville Police Department of the issue recently. Abbeville Police Chief Tony Hardy said he informed his officers during a departmental meeting.
“We have not been enforcing that ordinance,” Abbeville Police Chief Tony Hardy said. “It has not been a problem.”
Brandon LeBlanc attended Tuesday’s city council meeting on behalf of Louisiana Open Carry Advocates. Saying he does not “knowingly want to break a law” that is on the books, LeBlanc said he would like to see the city’s gun ordinance removed. LeBlanc started a petition in February, one that he said has nearly 400 signatures.
“I ask you as city council members to place this ordinance on the table and vote to remove it so that it aligns with the state constitution,” LeBlanc said.
The council did not make a vote to abolish the ordinance, but rather will look further into the matter.
“I make a motion that we take this under advisement and have our city attorney study this,” Councilman Brady Broussard Jr. said.
Funderburk said he will study the matter, adding that the issue should expand to other city ordinances that do not line up with Louisiana law as it has changed over the years.
“The state legislature has commissioned the Louisiana State Law Institute to do a canvas of all of the revised statues of the State of Louisiana,” Funderburk explained to the council. “There are a lot of (state) statues that have been superseded by other legislation, but they are still on the books, just like (the city’s gun ordinance) is still on the books.
“They are not enforced, but they are still on the books.”
Funderburk said there is expected to be a bill at a future legislative session that will “weed out” state statutes that have been declared unconstitutional.
“It may be a good idea for me do (for the city) the same thing the law institute is doing,” Funderburk told the council. “I will go through our code of ordinances, which dates back to 1850, and look carefully at everything we have there.
“We can clean up our code of ordinances and fall in line with what the legislature is doing.”
LeBlanc, who is originally from Gueydan and currently lives in Lafayette, said he is satisfied that the council plans to look into the matter. For him, the heart of the issue is fully following the letter of the law.
“I am in Abbeville pretty often,” LeBlanc said. “Louisiana is an open carry state, therefore, I choose to open carry.
“When I come into Abbeville, I don’t want to be breaking the law.”