Sometimes you just have to shake your head and wonder what the hell our governor and our legislators are thinking when they make laws and stake out political positions on controversial topics like, say, meaningful legislation that would keep the mentally unstable prone to violence from obtaining weapons.
In the aftermath of the tragic shooting in that Lafayette movie theater that left two victims and the gunman dead and seven others wounded, Bobby Jindal opined that it was “not the time” to discuss the “politics” of Louisiana’s gun laws. For Bobby and his ilk (read: right-wing, neo-fascist, stand-your-ground idiots), there is never a right time to discuss such trite matters as Sandy Hook, Columbine, Aurora, Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, or Lafayette’s Grand Theater.
Anything approaching legislation aimed at keeping guns away from the mentally disturbed or hate-consumed racists is anathema to those who cater to the NRA and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and their demented, all-encompassing defense of the sacred Second Amendment.
JINDAL RECEIVING GIFT RIFLE FROM NRA
A florist is required to obtain a license to sell flowers in Louisiana—even as the Brady Campaign’s “scorecard” on gun control ranked Louisiana the second-worst state in the U.S. in terms of laws designed to prevent gun violence. And that was in 2013, long before the Lafayette assault.
The Louisiana State Board of Dentistry has carte blanche to harass dentists for such infractions of publishing advertising of prohibited size or font, “violations” that in several cases have resulted in fines of six figures and which have literally put some dentists out of business. Meanwhile, Louisiana has the second highest firearm death rate and the highest gun-related homicide rate in America—even before the Lafayette shootings by John Houser.
Inspectors for the Louisiana Board of Cosmetology are allowed to barge into Vietnamese-owned nail salons, order everyone to freeze and proceed to pull out drawers and open cabinets searching for God knows what and to impose steep fines for vague infractions in much the same manner as the Board of Dentistry, all the while informing the Vietnamese operators that they are subject to “different rules for you guys.” But for some strange reason known only to the NRA and ALEC lapdogs like Jindal, Louisiana does not require private gun sellers (who, by the way, are not licensed dealers) to initiate background checks when transferring a firearm.
JINDAL EXAMINING WEAPON DURING IOWA CAMPAIGN STOP
Police officers from Shreveport to New Orleans, from Lake Providence to Lake Charles, may (and often do) pull you over for the life endangering violation of not having an illuminated license plate (yep, gotta have a working light bulb over your license plate or you could get a ticket). But if you happen to have a gun in your vehicle when you’re pulled over….well, that’s okay provided you have a concealed carry permit.
Bobby Jindal and his NRA buddies in the Louisiana Legislature are all about the freedom to own and carry weapons and in 2010, Jindal even signed into law a bill (HB 1272) by Rep. Henry Burns (R-Haughton) that allows you to pack heat in a church, mosque, synagogue or any other house of worship. At the same time, Jindal has consistently cut funding for mental health care in Louisiana and even closed one mental health facility in New Orleans and privatized Southeast Louisiana Hospital in Mandeville. The Florida company chosen to run the facility, Meridian Behavioral Health Systems, was found to have deficiencies serious enough to threaten its eligibility to continue participation in Medicare.
A FAMILY THAT SHOOTS TOGETHER….
Jindal sent out a Christmas card last December that featured a photo of the entire family clad in cammo and he has attached himself to the gun-totin’ Robertson family of Duck Dynasty fame in a way that is almost creepy. State Sen. Neil Riser even authored a bill (SB 178) that would give firearms dealers permission to offer voter registration forms at the point of sale, sending the clear message that voting (Republican, we assume) and the right to own a gun are somehow related and more important than curbing the homicide rate of say, Baton Rouge, which recently had a murder rate higher than that of Chicago. Yet, the Jindal administration rammed through its “deliberative process” catch-all bill in its 2008 “transparency” legislation that makes records of his office off limits to public scrutiny. Moreover, his Division of Administration, as well as other statewide agencies like the LSU Board of Supervisors, continue to throw up barriers to media access of public records.
JINDAL FAMILY’S 2014 CHRISTMAS CARD (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)
But, Jindal continues to call for prayers and hugs in response to mass killings and to resist any dialogue on such divisive matters as curbing one’s right to defend life and property—no matter that the nation’s murder rate far outpaces the rate of self-defense shootings.
You see, now is just “not the time” to make political points.
Louisiana Voice 
Bobby (Piyush) Jindal is a pathetic excuse for a human being. He should get a refund for his education because he didn’t learn a damn thing except how to be a criminal!
Tom, everything you say about Jindal is true, but the term “nut Job” tends to smear all people with mental illness, when only a small percentage of the mentally ill are violent. I completely agree that there needs to be screening of people with mental illnesses for gun ownership, but among the “nut jobs” are people who have, with great effort and proper mental health care, carried on with their lives and made great contributions to the lives of others.
Though I don’t agree that my terminology smeared all people with mental issues, I did change the wording. You are correct in saying not all people with mental illness are dangerous and I certainly did not mean to imply that. Thanks for the suggestion.
Thanks, Tom. I was going to share the link to your post on Facebook, but I did not, because I have a couple of friends with mental illness, who might take offense, and with good cause, because they have been treated badly and suffered from discrimination. They have overcome great odds and now live what appear to be normal lives, though they still suffer from mental illness and would be likely to go off the rails if they did not adhere to their treatment protocols. The state of mental health care in Louisiana is sadly lacking even for people with some means, and that’s to say nothing of the poor and their families, who are mostly left to fend for themselves.
Now I will share your link on Facebook.
The third photo looks like Bobby must have grown a few inches or Supriya lost a few! If Bobby want wants to play with guns let him join the army-fat chance of that happening!
It takes a wicked man to give prayer a bad name, but we’ve got one.
It must be time again to start talking about guns, because I read that yesterday Jindal endorsed the idea of people bringing guns to movie theaters. Might as well be straight from the mouth of Satan.
Isn’t it ironic how Jindal wanted to ban the Winsboro Baptist Church folks, when those are precisely Jindal’s kind of people? Maybe they wanted to come and hold GEAUX JINDAL signs, for all we know.
“It takes a wicked man to give prayer a bad name, but we’ve got one.” That is profound statement, the implication of which is deeply disturbing. Evil wrapped in an attractive or acceptable package is the most insidious of all. Whatever god jindal invokes is certainly not the One I pray to.
King Jindal will only be our governor for another 5 1/2 mo. Thank God. If we survive this maybe our state will recover from all the wrongs that he has done since he became governor(king) of Louisiana. Hopefully our legislators who are to represent the public will wake up or NOT be relected. There is a great mess in our state, but we elect a Christian governor God can straighten things up. pray FOR A CHRISTIAN LEADER TO REPRESENT the public that elects them.
Choot ’em, Bobby, choot ’em!!! Does that show still exist?
That was one of the best parts of that show Stephen.
Crazy people and criminals don’t follow gun laws.
I know state employees can’t accept gifts but apparently, the gov can accept a gun? What other “gifts” has he accepted? Might explain his recently highlighted financial success relative to his government salary. If he’s such an investment wizard, why doesn’t he share his secrets with LA? We could use a few $$.
Our likely next governor has one of the strongest endorsements from gun groups and to keep it Vitter would likely support the next attempt to end the ban on concealed carry on college campuses.
I find it quite depressing that Vitter will very likely be our next governor.
Not if you get out and work for John Bel Edwards who’s looking good in the polls. I appreciate how Edwards repeatedly stood up to Jindal while his R minions helped him destroy our state.
Recently I heard a quote which succinctly speaks truth about Jindal, Vitter and a whole gaggle of Bible-thumping God-ites: “God uses good people; bad people use God”.
I have not given up, and I most certainly will support Edwards.
That is a great quote.
Your quote is succinct and to the point. So many of today’s so-called Christians are latter day Pharisees. They have co-opted the faith and give all true Christians bad name. Actions speak louder than words, as the old saying goes, and we have seen jindal and his little demon minions in action, There is nothing Christian about their behavior. In fact, if Our Lord’s second coming were today, they would crucify Him again as a liberal.
Awesome quote!
My thoughts on this. The mental health system is not adequate in this country and is in fact very weak but not the root cause of the problem. Having guns readily available makes things worse but is not at the root of problem. These are alienated white males for the most part who over time have found themselves marginalized and unable to cope with that and who wish to put their pain on others. There is little help for single males who have lost their livelihood in this society. They are considered to be “losers” and in our society there is a belief that they “did it to themselves” and therefore should just “suck it up.” Then we act surprised when one of them explodes and kills a few people.
I don’t believe you need a concealed permit to have a gun in your car. I could be mistaken, but I think it is an extension of your domain.
You are correct on both points.
Here we go again picking on our former governor Jindal. Why don’t we pick on Mayor Landrieu? If you take New Orleans out of the mix, Louisiana gets a lot safer when you consider statistics on gun violence. You take away north Baton Rouge also and Louisiana is a safe place to live. Mental health care countrywide needs some tender loving care. Your generalization that all mass murderers are right wing neo fascists is a wee bit off target. The evil man who shot the innocents in Lafayette was pegged a tea party member right off the back by the left leaning press until they found out he supported Obama. We jump on the bandwagon at the drop of a hat. Facts are that black on black crime is out of control. N.O. has a serious crime problem that removing monuments won’t fix. The background check system needs to be reviewed, as does the care for the mentally ill of America. But evil is something else to be reckoned with and blaming our former governor Jindal isn’t going to fix evil.
If you read what I wrote, I never implied that mass murderers were “right wing neo fascists.” I said the killers were mentally disturbed and the “right wing neo fascists” were standing in the way of addressing the issue of ease access to weapons. Likewise, I never said Jindal was to blame for the killings; I said he is purposely evading any discussion of the problem. As for the Lafayette shooter, I believe he also admired Hitler. Yes, mental health care does need some “tender loving care,” and our governor has all but eliminated access to treatment by closing and privatizing facilities.
I appreciate your readership, but I do wish you wouldn’t try and put words in my mouth.
Tom
I stand corrected and apologize, I had read several opinion pieces that tried to imply that this evil person was a tea party member and a conservative. This immediate labeling always bothers me as does calling anyone who feels that our rights should not be infringed upon as right wing neo fascists or some other name. There needs to be a discussion specifically on mentally disturbed individuals purchasing guns. This discussion should happen when cooler heads can prevail. Now is not the time but the time needs to be soon. This is not the first instance of a mentally disturbed person killing innocents, it’s happened before and unfortunately the politicians want to capitalize on situations like this to further their agenda, not fix the problem. I am sorry for incorrectly putting words in yur mouth.
Great article Tom! The Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology is a joke!
It’s time to defund these boards. They have become self-propogating entities designed to garner influence for members’ friends and to harass their enemies. According to one legal scholar, the recent Supreme Court decision favoring the FTC over the NC dental board makes most of these boards in violation of federal law.