[Chancellor Palpatine]

So what? He's a convicted felon.

You ought to retitle the article as "ex con stupidly in possession of weapon gets the sentence he deserves".

[sparkomatic]

Where is it written that an ex-convict loses his constitutional rights?

[Moonmad27]

Ditto - the headline is seriously misleading. I'd think freepers or conservatives would support this guy's sentence if he was an ordinary felon on the city street who had that weapon and wasn't supposed to (even if he wasn't bothering anyone or robbing a bank). No one should let their bias toward hunting or gun ownership affect his or her judgement in this.

[JohnGalt]

Think G. Gordon Liddy would get slapped with 15 years for walking around with his wife's handguns on his own property?

[teeman8r]

which brings up the "do the time, repay your debt, rights restored argument".

the man has a right to bear arms, for hunting and for self defense, if he was still a threat to the public, he'd still be in prison...

jmt teeman

flame away, but i don't think you have a match to stand on...

[Rifleman]

Stupid evil laws are supported by stupid evil people. This sort of nonsense reduces the respect that reasonable people feel for rational laws and to legitimate government.

[Copernicus]

So what? He's a convicted felon.

In the society of the future EVERYONE will be a convicted felon, including you.

I very curious about the details here. He is 43 and has two burglary convictions.

When did these burglaries occur and under what circumstances?

The story conveniently omits all details that would establish context- does he have a job? A family? What other encounter has he had with the law?

If the answer to these questions suggest a positive change of life then it is a mistake to allow a Prosecutor to intimidate you into a plea bargain.

An established possibility would be the jury would nullify both the charges and the law.

Of course, conservative lawyers on the level of competence of the ACLU are virtually non-existent so such an outcome is still only a possibility.

Best regards,

[Lucas1]

Quote "You ought to retitle the article as "ex con stupidly in possession of weapon gets the sentence he deserves"."

He DESERVES???? You have to be kidding right? You forgot your sarcasm /

[A. Pole]

So what? He's a convicted felon.

Yeah, "so what". The public will support him for 15 years which will be wasted for him (and his family) for harming nobody (with the exception of deer). Excellent way to run the society.

Prison industry is the fastest growing sector of economy - number one in the world.

[suijuris]

You ought to retitle the article as "ex con stupidly in possession of weapon gets the sentence he deserves".

And why should a convicted felon who has paid his debt to society not have a right to possess a gun? Is that in the consitution somewhere under shall not be infringed?

[hopespringseternal]

You ought to retitle the article as "ex con stupidly in possession of weapon gets the sentence he deserves".

Oh, sure. And exactly what does that accomplish? How many plea deals went down, letting people accused of violent crimes out on the street years earlier, while our Captain Ahab justice system went after this technical violation?

Maybe this sort of thing gives you a rush, but I would just as soon have prosecutors chasing real crime.

[tictoc]

Thousands of years ago... in a distant land... there was a city built on seven hills, one of which was called the Palpatine.

The people who lived there had a ready wit and a dry sense of humor.

For someone like you, it would have taken them all of four words to skewer you like a bloated pig's bladder.

Fiat justitia, pereat mundus.

[monday]

"So what? He's a convicted felon."

Perhaps we should just execute all convicted felons? You would like that wouldn't you?

[rmmcdaniell]

You ought to retitle the article as "ex con stupidly in possession of weapon gets the sentence he deserves".

Perhaps we can also remove someone's right to a fair trial after they've been convicted of a fellony once. That way we can free up the courts that are being tied up with repeated offenders. Just throw'em in jail at the slightest accusation and be done with it. /sarcasm