Posts Tagged ‘strict scrutiny’

Photo by Brett Duke, NOLA.com The Times-Picayune

On Election Day, the voters of Louisiana approved a ballot initiative that may make it easier for criminals to challenge the state’s gun laws in court. That NRA-sponsored initiative – the first of its kind in the nation – amended the state constitution’s right to bear arms provision to force courts considering state constitutional challenges to gun laws to apply “strict scrutiny,” the highest judicial standard.

The new provision is outrageous because it will require courts to review laws under a certain standard, rather than letting them decide for themselves what standard to use, as they traditionally have done. Strict scrutiny is often described as “strict in theory, fatal in fact,” because the vast majority of laws subject to strict scrutiny are found to be unconstitutional. Even the Supreme Court has not advocated for the use of strict scrutiny in cases evaluating laws under the Second Amendment. Requiring such a high standard could jeopardize even modest laws to reduce gun violence in Louisiana. This is especially alarming in a state that, in 2010, had the second highest number of firearm deaths per capita.

READ MORE »

Louisiana On Its Way to Passing Strongest Pro-Gun Law in U.S.
Ashley Portero, International Business Times, May 25, 2012

Louisiana recently passed legislation that would amend the state constitution to remove language specifically allowing the state to regulate concealed weapons, and provide that the right to keep and bear arms is “fundamental and shall not be infringed.”  The proposed amendment – which now must be adopted by the voters of Louisiana – also takes the highly unique step of enshrining in the state constitution a higher standard of proof for determining the constitutionality of any law that may restrict Louisiana residents’ ability to own and carry guns.