Movie theater metal detector plan dies

The House Criminal Justice Committee saw irritated commentary from Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport, after her bill to require movie theaters to install metal detectors among other safety procedures died at the hands of freshman Rep. Tony Bacala, R-Gonzales.
Bacala, a retired Ascension Parish Sheriff’s Office, moved to to involuntarily defer, and effectively kill, House Bill 101, citing a fake sense of security provided by Norton’s proposal. The committee concurred 6-5, and sent Norton into an angry retort.
“Thank you, Mr. Bacala, for not saving our children,” Norton, in ending her testimony. “I hope you can live with a clear conscience if someone’s children or parents are murdered in a movie theater.”
Bacala undercut the bill on several fronts, but primary on grounds that it was ineffective protection.
“Are we going to let the 18-year-old, minimum-wage employee who is checking people’s bags and waving a metal detector get shot by some criminal,” Bacala said. “The people who would be doing these checks are not trained security personnel and these metal detectors and bag checks create a false sense of security for people.”
Prior to Bacala’s motion, Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Iberia, had amended the legislation, with unanimous approval from the committee, to allow concealed carry permit holders to possess firearms at movie theatres.
Norton stressed the legislation’s intent was not to take gun owner’s rights away, but to protect Louisiana’s children from unnecessary violence.
The committee did not take public testimony because the bill had been killed.
Other gun-related legislation, HB176 by Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Denham Springs, would allow domestic violence victims to carry concealed firearms for 45 days without a permit while simultaneously receiving weapons training voluntarily deferred by the committee until next week for language clarification..
Bacala had attempted to amend the bill to wave the $25 application fee for lower-income individuals, but the amendment failed after supporters of Norton’s movie theatre bill voted against it.