Thursday, June 20, 2013

Governor Bobby Jindal Signs First Amendment Trashing Gun Rights Bill

There is no doubt that politicos passing legislation that is pleasing to the ears of their voters but has the problem of being unconstitutional is a very bipartisan problem

Today's offender is my Governor of the Great State of Louisiana. See here

Now I get the reasons behind this bill and I think some media acted very badly and abused their positions in releasing concealed info.

HOWEVER ! As shown here even those that make it their work , like me ;  to protect the second amendment are shaking their heads . See Louisiana Set to Criminalize Publishing That Someone Has a Concealed Carry Permit

He says in part :

....So blogging that you happen to know that a gun control advocate actually has a concealed carry permit himself would be a crime. Or say that you know someone has a concealed carry permit, and that person is sued for supposedly making death threats, or is criminally prosecuted for a felony offense involving a shotgun, or otherwise seems dangerous and unstable — mentioning the permit in publicly discussing the situation would be a crime. Mentioning applicants’ names in giving examples of cases where you think a concealed handgun permit was wrongly issued, or wrongly denied, would be a crime, too. So would talking about a person’s concealed carry permit in a biography of the person, or in a newspaper or magazine story that is trying to give a sense of the kind of person he is. 

This is a clear First Amendment violation. Florida Star v. B.J.F. (1989) struck down a law banning the publication of the names of rape victims, once the information was released by the police (even when it was released in violation of department policy). This statute is thus unconstitutionally overbroad, because it has no exception for these kinds of erroneous-release situations. But even if the statute were limited to exclude information gleaned from public records, it would still be unconstitutional: It would be a content-based restriction on speech. It would apply to speech about crime, lawsuits, threats to public safety, and other matters of public concern....

Most Louisiana citizens of course are unaware that they could go jail AKA have their liberty restricted and be thrown in jail with violent criminals if they just mention someone has concealed weapon gun permit.

Thankfully for them any Louisiana Judge worth their salt is going to balk at this law. The legislature know this, Jindal knows this, and you can bet those lawyers that advise the Governor know this. So why do it?

Even silly symbolic legislation like this I think is a threat against the First amendment. Further how in the heck is it very " limited government" just to casually throw out jail terms like this ?

You don't protect the Second Amendment by attacking the First.

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