It seems that St. Helena Sheriff Nathaniel “Nat” Williams has decided to re-interpret both The U. S. Constitution and Louisiana’s State Constitution and is threatening to arrest anyone who participates in armed citizen patrols organized to protect property.
Any residents of St. Helena Parish caught riding around the parish with assault weapons will be arrested, Sheriff Nat Williams warned Tuesday.
“As far as them riding around with an assault rifle, it will not be tolerated,” he said. “Somebody with an assault weapon is no different from a criminal and will be treated the same way.”
Some residents of the parish’s 6th Ward, angered by a rash of recent break-ins, have conducted informal patrols, sometimes while armed with AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, the civilian version of the U.S. military’s M-16.
“If somebody is out riding around with an assault weapon, that’s not protecting the neighborhood, that’s terrorizing the neighborhood,” Williams said.
“Anybody want to ride around their own community, that’s fine, call us,” Williams said. “But any assault weapons, they’re going to jail.”
See here what Louisiana’s Constitution has to say about it.
Article 1, Section 11 – Right to Keep and Bear Arms
The right of each citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged, but this provision shall not prevent the passage of laws to prohibit the carrying of weapons concealed on the person.
And of course there is that ancient document known as the U. S. Constitution.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
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