Louisiana Strengthens Gun Rights
Another bright spot: Voters in Louisiana overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment strengthening the constitutional right to keep and bear arms, in their state. From the Advocate:
With just shy of 100 percent of the vote in, Amendment 2 was passing 1,237,596 or 74 percent to 428,906 or 26 percent in a state where gun rights have some of the greatest protections in the U.S.
[ . . . ]
The constitutional change — pushed by the National Rifle Association — would require “strict scrutiny” of any restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms. The legal standard would require courts, when asked, to determine whether the state’s gun laws demonstrate “a compelling governmental interest” and are “narrowly defined.” If not, they are to be thrown out as unconstitutional.
No other state has a ’strict scrutiny’ clause. This amendment could overturn some of the states gun regulations such as requiring a permit for CCW.
More at the link and kudos to Louisiana voters. Out of curiosity, would this also prevent the confiscation of firearms during a time of emergency — such as happened during Hurricane Katrina? If memory serves me right, though, I think the state legislature there passed a law on its own a couple of years ago preventing that from happening again. Maybe someone from there can elaborate.
5 Responses to “Louisiana Strengthens Gun Rights”
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on 07 Nov 2012 at 7:47 am # Ceefour
After the shocking/unhappy results of this election..we need a little good news like this. We are still pessimistic about the 2nd Amendment’s future with That One’s four more years…something evil this way comes…….
on 07 Nov 2012 at 4:57 pm # kalashnikat
During Katrina, in a confused situation, there were a number of incidents in which arms were confiscated from the law abiding, and some civilians were killed by Law Enforcement, NOPD, which then tried to cover up their lethal incompetence.
…google the Danziger Bridge incident…
IIRC this amendment and the other general Louisiana code laws on the subject were intended to respond to those incidents…
on 07 Nov 2012 at 5:13 pm # Henry
It won’t matter. The “new” SCOTUS will knock them all down.
on 07 Nov 2012 at 6:45 pm # PawPaw
Yeah, after the Katrina debacle, the legislature passed a law that makes it illegal to confiscate firearms during an emergency. Now, with this new amendment, Louisiana has some of the strongest gun-rights laws in the nation. The effect is yet to be seen (how it affects other gun laws), but the citizens of Louisiana have spoken, making firearms possession a fundamental right of citizenship.
on 14 Nov 2012 at 11:09 pm # Old Lawyer
This assumes that the Louisiana Supreme Court has honorable justices who follow this law and not the usual breed who do what they want because they aren’t accountable to anyone. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, always.
In my state, they can read “shall” to mean “maybe” so why not decide that guns are SOOOOO dangerous that “public policy,” as the Justice’s see it, demands that any restriction that isn’t pure gibberish (applying the US S. Ct’s “rational basis” test) be upheld.