GUN CRAZY : LOUISIANA JUDGE SAYS FELONS HAVE A RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS.

 

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One of the last taboos in gun ownership has just been violated by a Louisiana judge, when  he deemed the national law forbidding ownership of firearms by felons an infringement on personal rights.

Louisiana is a state that has its own very well documented trouble with crime.  In fact, the laws in that state are already the most permissive in the union.  And the crime rates reflect it. Such negative trends notwithstanding, the Louisiana legislature just last November decided to back an initiative proposed by the NRA to make gun ownership a personal right on par with religion and speech.  

This new constitutional amendment then, is a passport for any criminal to challenge any law federal or otherwise, restricting his ownership of firearms, any firearms.  

The Judge in question, Darryl Derbigny, wrote in his decision that felons of the stripe that murder, rape, kidnap and batter their partners have a right to bear arms, since the Louisiana statute nr. 14:51.1 is unconstitutional.  

The case that sparked the fateful decision was that of a 20 year old who confessed to misdemeanor crime of burglary and was later found to have a 40 caliber S&W and and AK-47 with a high capacity magazine in his car.  The judge, notwithstanding the prosecutor's case, dismissed all charges.  The prosecutor is appealing.

The New Orleans District Attorney, Leon Cannizzaro, has warned that the new amendment to the constitution, is an effort by some in the state to have an open-carry right.  That means that anyone, including felons, will have a sanctioned right to carry a weapon, concealed, without a permit or criminal background check. 

This amendment however, flies in the face of the federal statute which absolutely bans gun ownership by convicted felons.  However, in 11 states such felons can re-acquire their right once they have served their sentence.  

In fact, most of the gun control laws have no provisions for mental health screening or other factors that could make the gun owner dangerous to the community.  Data from the the Washington Times showed that since 1995 more than 3,300 felons have lawfully reacquired their right to bear arms.  And of these, more than 13 % have re-offended.  This has not deterred Republican legislators from pushing laws that would automatically restore the right to bear arms by any convicted felon.  

Source: MOJO 3.27.13