Felons and Guns - from the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail

This article appeared in today's edition of the local paper. I actually stumbled on the oral presentation of this case a while back at work. Basically, a circuit court judge (trial level) found most of the WV laws stripping convicted felons of civil rights - to sit on a jury, possess a firearm, etc. - to violate the state and federal constitution. The WV Supreme Court is set to hear argument on the case shortly.

If the Supremes uphold the unconstitutionality of the gun statutes, it could greatly effect federal gun prosecutions in WV. The federal felon in possession statute is very deferential to state law, to the point that the state can essentially trump the federal ban on cons possessing guns. I'll be interested to see what the Supremes do with this - in an election year, no less.