A Senate Committee will hear a gun control bill today that would raise the minimum age of purchase for firearms to 21. Matt Doyle has more.
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The Louisiana House approves legislation to toughen the penalties for those convicted of hazing. Kelley Ray has more.
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A bill to legalize sports betting gets a senate committee hearing today. Jeff Palermo has more…
Cut 3 (30) “I’m Jeff Palermo.”
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A gun control bill will be heard in Senate Judiciary C today that would raise the minimum purchasing age for assault weapons to 21. New Orleans Senator Troy Carter, calls himself a gun enthusiast, but says his legislation is one step forward in curbing gun violence.
Carter says the legislation would level the legal playing field between assault weapons and handguns, and is not infringing on gun rights.
But Louisiana Shooting Association lobbyist Wade Duty says the bills are flawed, because it’s not so easy to determine what constitutes an assault weapon.
He says gun manufacturers can easily bypass restrictions by subtly modifying their products in ways that are easy to undue.
Duty says it’s not fair that 20-year-olds can serve in the military, but would be barred from purchasing assault weapons.
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Severe weather is expected across much of Louisiana as a strong cold front is expected to move through tonight. State climatologist Barry Keim says some of the strongest weather could be seen in north Louisiana…
Keim says the entire state is under a risk of tornadoes. Some areas are under more of a threat than others…
Cut 9 (12) “somewhat isolated.”
Keim says the next 24 hours will be critical as the cold front enters the state and will drop temperatures by as much as ten degrees in some areas for Wednesday…
Temperatures are expected to rebound by the latter part of this week.
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Several protesters marched into Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office on Monday demanding a grand jury look at the evidence from the Alton Sterling investigation. Landry announced last week two white police officers will not be criminally charged in the 2016 shooting death of a black man. But Louisiana NAACP President Michael McClanahan says the violent video of the shooting released on Friday should be reviewed by a 12-member panel to determine if criminal charges are warranted…
McClanahan says they are peacefully protesting and they plan to go back to Landry’s office every day until the A-G comes out and speaks with them. McClanahan expects the groups to get larger and remain camped out for longer stints…
Body cam and surveillance video from a convenience store showed officer Blane Salamoni yelling obscenities and putting his gun to Sterling’s head, and then shooting him six times after a brief struggle. McClanahan feels the officers did not go there to make peace with Sterling
Landry’s office was contacted by LRN but did not have any comment.
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A bill that calls for a statewide referendum to legalize sports betting in Louisiana will be heard in a senate committee today. Metairie Senator Daniel Martiny says the argument against his legislation is that it expands gambling, but it can help generate a stable revenue source for state government…
The U-S Supreme Court could soon strike down a decades old federal law that has banned sports betting outside of Nevada. Martiny says another argument in favor of his legislation is that nearby states are poised to allow sports book betting, if there’s a favorable ruling from the nation’s highest court…
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Martiny also has a bill up for discussion that calls for a statewide referendum to legalize internet gambling. He says sports betting and internet gaming can provide the state with much needed revenue…
The referendum elections on these two bills would be held in November, if they pass the state legislature.
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LSU Baseball Head Coach Paul Mainieri is not happy about the team’s RPI rating of 81. The Tigers have tumbled down the NCAA’s rating index despite an 18 and 11 record. Mainieri says he’s befuddled by the extraordinarily low rating.
LSU is 1-4 on the road so far, one of the worst road records in the SEC.
Mainieri says they need to start taking midweek games more seriously, and the team can’t just show up for the bright lights of weekend games.
LSU takes on Nicholls tonight. The Colonels are 9 and 18 on the year, and riding a three game losing streak. Despite their struggles, Mainieri says Nicholls always brings their A game to Alex Box.
LSU begins a three game series against Texas A&M, who sits at 15 on the RPI Index, Thursday.