NRA hard at work

Louisiana leader in nation's gun violence - little or no gun control measures.

From the Daily Kos

Congratulations have to go out to the NRA for this one. Good work, NRA, your valiant efforts have helped catapult Louisiana into the lead for much-coveted status as "America's Somalia"!

    A new study released last week by the Center for American Progress analyzed 10 key measures of gun violence and found that Louisiana is worst among the 50 states. Included in the report is a 50-state ranking of law enforcement feloniously killed by guns: Louisiana ranks second worst in the nation behind South Dakota.

Good attempt, South Dakota, but you're not really in the overall running here. Both Dakotas can still feel good about themselves, though, since both were highly ranked on the recent corporate-libertarian "freedom" scale, and nothing says "freedom" being able to easily kill police officers. If you want to be a real hellhole of gun violence, though, you'll want to be a conservative-dominated southern state.

So why does the NRA get a special shout out here? Because they went to special efforts to ensure that, in Louisiana, even violent criminals and the seriously mentally ill were still allowed to carry concealed weapons.

    Gun laws in Louisiana prevent the state's law enforcement officers from doing their jobs, and put them at a much greater risk of gun violence. Last November, the state passed an NRA-backed ballot initiative that enshrined gun ownership in the constitution and removed provisions that prohibited certain individuals, such as domestic abusers and the seriously mentally ill, from carrying a concealed weapon. In March, a judge ruled that the amendment outlawed a "state statute forbidding certain felons from possessing firearms," noting that "The courts cannot question the wisdom of fundamental law and frustrate the will of the people."