La. Supreme Court upholds gun restrictions

The Louisiana Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a state law that forbids felons from possessing firearms, ruling that lawmakers did not intend to invalidate the state’s weapons laws when they proposed a constitutional amendment declaring gun ownership a fundamental right.

Justice Jeff Hughes wrote in a unanimous opinion that the state’s ban on the possession of firearms by convicted felons “is not affected” by the constitutional language approved by voters in 2012.

The justices also found that the law, R.S. 1495.1, withstood a legal test known as “strict scrutiny,” the highest level of judicial review, which became necessary after voters in 2012 overwhelmingly approved constitutional language that gave Louisiana the strongest gun-rights laws in the nation.

“Such laws are effective, time-tested and easily understandable, and do not violate the constitution,” Hughes wrote in the 16-page opinion. “Common sense and the public safety allow no other result.”

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/news/9615293-171/la-supreme-court-upholds-gun