Tea Party lawmaker lied about rape case on gun application

Another day, another rape case involving a Tea Party politician.

Meet Idaho State Rep. Mark Patterson. Big Tea Party guy. Recently it came to light that Patterson was involved in a bizarre rape case. According to a police report, Patterson violently forced a woman into his home and tried siccing his dog on her if she didn't have sex with him. Then, Patterson boasted that he was part of a tough biker gang who'd get after the woman if she reported the incident.

Patterson was convicted of assault with intent to rape - though he accused the police of making the whole thing up.

Sometime later, Patterson was charged with rape in a separate incident, but acquitted.

Because of the earlier conviction, Patterson is not supposed to have a gun. So he has lied on his gun permit application at least twice - by failing to mention the case.

When the long arm of the law discovered Patterson had lied on his application and was a convicted criminal, the sheriff's department came to his home and confiscated his gun permit. Patterson says it's all a big conspiracy against him by the sheriff.

Now here's the amazing part. Despite losing his gun permit, Patterson is still allowed to carry a concealed firearm. That's because Idaho law lets lawmakers - but not ordinary people - carry concealed weapons without a permit. Idaho is the only state that exempts legislators from gun laws.

But does Idaho let criminals serve as legislators?

(Source: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/idaho-gop-lawmaker-mark-patterson-lied-about-rape-charge-gun-permit-application)