Louisiana Governor Jindal Gets it Right!

The Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, used the power of veto on Friday to quash a piece of assinine gun legislation typical of what we often see put forth by "well meaning" legislative feel-gooders. As is typical, legislative proposals of this type really have no basis of need, and appear to be arbitrary affronts to law-abiding gun owners.

This bill called for the prohibition of carrying a firearm within 1,000 feet of a parade or demonstration. There were a few exemptions, but not exempted were those with lawful concealed-carry permits (the bill's sponsor refused the addition of this exemption), and penalties for a violation were severe - felonies to be exact.

There was a shooting this year at Mardi Gras and the perpetrators were arrested straightaway. Luckily no one was killed. I wonder, if this law were in place at the time, would this crime not have been committed by this criminal? Do you think Lee Harvey Oswald would NOT have killed our president if there had been a law such as this in place in Dallas? I bet we agree on the answer.

The flipside to laws like this are they trip up law-abiding gun owners. Instead of preventing crime, they create criminal acts for the otherwise unthreatening, law-abiding citizen. Perhaps a minor traffic stop occurs several blocks away, and the occupant reveals he is carrying, as many concealed-carry permitholders do as a courtsey to police officers. Unaware of his crime, this citizen would wind up in jail. It is for this reason that Jindal used common sense in exercising his veto power - citing the bill posed an unacceptable risk to lawful gun owners.

Like most gun control efforts, this one lacked common sense. Anti-gun proposals are almost always either about just feeling good or part of a true agenda to disarm the American public, and rarely is there any emperical basis to them. It is refreshing to know that there are still some politicians who "get it right" and respect our constitution.

I expect to see Piyush "Bobby" Jindal at some point on the national political stage, and this will be welcomed by many.