Justice Thomas raised an interesting point.
Something that'd been staring us in the face as we talked about the trees of gun-control missing the larger forest of general government malfeasance.
What other rights are gone for good when your convicted of a felony besides owning a gun?
Can I still say what I want as a felon?
Can the government make my house into a barracks?
Can they just walk into my house without a warrant?
Can I be compelled to incriminate myself?
Am I no longer entitled to a jury trial or to have a legal representation?
Can I be tried for the same thing twice?
May I now be subjected to cruel and unusual punishments?
Seven times the answer is no.
Yet I can lose the right to own a gun? Forever? Without redress?
No wonder Justice Thomas broke a ten year silence.
As a felon you lose the right to vote...
ReplyDeleteNot forever and you have redress. Some states you don't even lose it and some of the states where you do, you get it back automatically after a set time period.
DeletePart of the problem, IMNSHO, is that "felony" covers both violent and nonviolent crimes. Patrick Purdy (the asshole who shot up the school playground) had a lot of violent crime on his record, but since he'd plea-bargained down to misdemeanors, he was legally able to buy that AK clone he used. Meanwhile, I wouldn't be afraid of the likes of Bernie Madoff (if he were ever to walk free) with a gun.
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