From Nola.com
An Orleans Parish judge on Thursday ruled that the state statute forbidding certain felons from possessing firearms is unconstitutional, in the wake of a constitutional amendment passed last year that made the right to bear arms a fundamental right in the state.
Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Darryl Derbigny on Thursday dismissed that charge against one felon, but took his decision a step further than another judge faced with a similar decision earlier this month.
Derbigny deemed that the entire statute - RS 14:95.1 - was unconstitutional after voters last year approved a constitutional amendment by overwhelming majority. That bill made gun ownership a fundamental right, on the same level as freedom of speech or religion, and subjected any law restricting that right to the highest level of judicial scrutiny.
An Orleans Parish judge on Thursday ruled that the state statute forbidding certain felons from possessing firearms is unconstitutional, in the wake of a constitutional amendment passed last year that made the right to bear arms a fundamental right in the state.
Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Judge Darryl Derbigny on Thursday dismissed that charge against one felon, but took his decision a step further than another judge faced with a similar decision earlier this month.
Derbigny deemed that the entire statute - RS 14:95.1 - was unconstitutional after voters last year approved a constitutional amendment by overwhelming majority. That bill made gun ownership a fundamental right, on the same level as freedom of speech or religion, and subjected any law restricting that right to the highest level of judicial scrutiny.