One can’t help but wonder where the inspiration for House Bill 100 came from. This bill, filed by Representative Dixon McMakin (R-Baton Rouge) would make speeding more the 30 miles an hour over the speed limit a felony in the state of Louisiana. Amidst the many bad ideas that come out of the capital every legislative session, this bill should claim its place at the very top of that list.

It is difficult to even understand the “why” of this bill. There are no apparent benefits, although one would hope that McMakin believes otherwise. It would likely be very interesting and entertaining to hear his justification of this bill. The grilling that he will hopefully receive when this bill is presented to the House Criminal Justice Committee may be well worth the price of admission to the capital that day.

In addition to making it a felony, the penalty for driving 75 in a 45 (and you know good and well that you have done it before) is now a fine of at least $1,000 or at least 6 months in jail, or possibly both. And let’s not forget the $300 or so for court costs that one would also be charged. And those are just the direct costs. Making speeding a felony carries some serious indirect consequences. The most serious of those that jumps to mind is that after pleading guilty to that speeding ticket, paying your $1,000 fine and hundreds of dollars in cost of court, you have now also lost your constitutional right to own a firearm. Forever. Yes, you read that correctly. Federal law prohibits anyone who has been convicted of a felony from ever possessing a firearm or ammunition. No more hunting for you. So, for the terrible offense of speeding, you can now be out more than $1,300 in cash, spend six months or more in jail, and spend the rest of your life as a convicted felon, which strips away your constitutional right to own a gun, in addition to all kinds of other ramifications.

Do you remember the last time that you filled out a job application? Remember that question on every application about whether you have ever been convicted of a felony? Do you want to have to answer yes to that question simply because you were caught speeding? Being a convicted felon carries a lot of implications like this that will severely impact one’s day-to-day life.

Did McMakin even consider all these impacts before proposing HB100? If so, did he really think this was a good idea? One could certainly be forgiven for questioning whether many legislators bother to take the time to really consider the ramifications of the bills that they propose. Of course, McMakin is the same guy who proposed a legislative hostile takeover of the Baton Rouge Republican executive committee last year, presumably because he had some petty feud with their chairman. So maybe he is not concerned about the impact of

his legislation on other people. It is certainly difficult to come up with any possible justification that would make changing speeding to a felony seem like a good idea.

If by some miracle this bill were to pass, it would be poetic justice if Rep. McMakin were to be the first to be caught driving too fast and lose his right to own a gun. But McMakin likely has the influence to get out of any such situation. Let’s be honest. Even if a policeman had the temerity to issue a felony citation (if it is a felony, does that mean that you will also be handcuffed and hauled off to jail?) to Representative McMakin, he is likely confident that he can make a phone call to the local district attorney and work things out so that those charges would disappear. Felony convictions will only be for the little people (like the rest of us). Rules for thee and not for me and all of that stuff.

It is hard to take our elected officials seriously when they propose junk like HB100. It is just more proof that we do not elect the best and brightest to lead our government. Hopefully McMakin’s colleagues will recognize this bill for the insanity that it is and flush it with a minimum of wasted time that we taxpayers have to foot the bill for.