The Rude Pundit: Judge in Louisiana Says People Convicted of Violent Crimes Can Own and Carry Guns
Follow the bouncing ball of fucktardation in the Rude Pundit's home state of Louisiana. It's a short little trip:
Late last year, the God-fearin', gun-ownin' citizens of Louisiana passed by an overwhelming margin an amendment to the state's constitution. 74% of voters agreed that "the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right and any restriction of that right requires the highest standard of review by a court." Now, unlike the U.S. Constitution, people generally don't give a rat's tight sphincter over changing a state constitution on a whim and a shitload of Super PAC money, led by the avatars of assholery, the NRA. Thus, Wayne LaPierre's bidding was done. And he saw it was good.
At the time, the funny-lookin' governor with the dark and skinny name, Bobby Jindal, editorialized in favor of the amendment, offering up the scary image of law enforcement confiscating guns after Katrina and of a Second Amendment that could have its interpretation changed by the whim of a single Supreme Court Justice. Jindal was also appalled at Louisiana's own courts' application of the "rational basis" legal standard for gun rights. Said the governor, "In reality, that means that the state has almost unlimited authority to confiscate, prohibit, or infringe on this fundamental right." He wanted the irrational basis of "strict scrutiny" for the application of gun laws. Of course, Jindal, being a good conservative taint-licking dog, doesn't mention the fact that any Louisiana law can go fuck itself if the federal laws change by court or Congress.
The DA of Orleans Parish, where, well, New Orleans is, said that it was a bad idea because "This amendment will place in extreme constitutional jeopardy criminal laws that require a permit to carry a concealed weapon, prohibit violent felons from possessing firearms and prohibit the possession of firearms on elementary and high school campuses." Oh, and it also deleted language from the state constitution that said the Legislature could regulate concealed firearms.
Guess who was right?
This morning, a judge in Orleans Parish ruled that the entire statute that said violent felons couldn't carry guns was now illegal because of the new state amendment. And that was not the first case where a judge said that the law too broadly defined "violent" felons and it violated the amendment. (Bonus Walking Dead points: an earlier case involved a burglar named "Darrell Dixon."
It's close enough to count.))
There's a phrase for this whole circle of utterly unnecessary bullshit: shooting yourself in the foot.
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2013/03/judge-in-louisiana-says-people.html
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