http://www.nraila.org/News/Read/Releases.aspx?ID=6539

Major Victory For Firearms Owners And Freedom In Louisiana

Friday, September 23, 2005


(Fairfax, VA) -- The United States District Court for the Eastern District in Louisiana today sided with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and issued a restraining order to bar further gun confiscations from peaceable and law-abiding victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

“This is a significant victory for freedom and for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The court’s ruling is instant relief for the victims who now have an effective means of defending themselves from the robbers and rapists that seek to further exploit the remnants of their shattered lives,” said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.

Joining LaPierre in hailing the U.S. District Court decision was NRA chief lobbyist Chris W. Cox. “This is an important victory. But the battle is not over. The NRA will remedy state emergency statutes in all 50 states, if needed, to ensure that this injustice does not happen again."

The controversy erupted when The New York Times reported, the New Orleans superintendent of police directed that no civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to have guns and that “only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons.” ABC News quoted New Orleans’ deputy police chief, saying, “No one will be able to be armed. We are going to take all the weapons.”

The NRA also pledged that it will continue its work to ensure that every single firearm arbitrarily and unlawfully seized under this directive is returned to the rightful law-abiding owner.

And this from the SAF...

http://www.saf.org/

FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS NEW ORLEANS GUN SEIZURES

For Immediate Release: 9/23/2005

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana this afternoon issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and National Rifle Association (NRA), bringing an end to firearm seizures from citizens living in and around New Orleans.


District Judge Jay Zainey issued the restraining order against all parties named in a lawsuit filed Thursday by SAF and NRA. Defendants in the lawsuit include New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Chief Edwin Compass III.



“This is a great victory, not just for the NRA and SAF, but primarily for law-abiding gun owners everywhere,” said SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are proud to have joined forces with the NRA to put an end to what has amounted to a warrantless gun grab by authorities in New Orleans and surrounding jurisdictions.



“Over the past three weeks,” he continued, “residents who had lost virtually everything in the devastation following Hurricane Katrina had also essentially been stripped of something even more precious, their civil rights, and their right of self-defense, because of these gun seizures.



“SAF and NRA had no alternative but to take action,” Gottlieb added. “If these gun confiscations had been allowed to continue without challenge, it would have set a dangerous precedent that would have encouraged authorities in other jurisdictions to believe they also could suspend the civil rights of citizens in the event of some other emergency.



“What must happen now, and quickly,” said Gottlieb, “is for authorities in the New Orleans area to explain how they will return all of those firearms to their rightful owners, and do it promptly. What this ruling affirms is that even in the face of great natural disasters, governments cannot arbitrarily deprive citizens of their rights. Thanks to some great teamwork between SAF and the NRA, this sort of thing will hopefully never happen again.”

Methinks 'tis nice to see some judges still go by the Constitution, eh?

Chief Compass is history. He's already gone.
He had several cops desert, others took
Cadillacs from a dealership and drove them to
Houston and Shreveport. Dallas PD turned down
applications from 10 NOPD officers this past week
because they are suspected of deserting their city.

The majority of (good) cops in NOLA have had to
shoulder the actions of the several dozen who
caved in. Most will continue to serve with dignity.

The mayor is probably in deep trouble as a
Februrary election looms and the city's population
has shifted greatly with the Ninth Ward empty and
the poor African-American population scattered.
Others in the city are disgusted with local planning
prior to the storm.

The attempted gun seizure was another stroke of
ignorance. I know they were trying to secure the
city from looting and protect cops who had been shot at,
but they should have done that on a case-by-case basis
where crimes were committed. That's the only realistic way
it could be done anyway. People that shoot at cops don't
volunteer information they have weapons.

The precident is excellent because the possibility of crisis
in any major American city resulting in such moves is
higher today than I can ever remember.

Another similar decision by the federal bureaucracy
recently reversed their order that no guns be allowed
in FEMA trailer villages set up for evacuees.

There were alot of casualties to the hurricanes,
but in Louisiana gun rights were not among them.
"Sportsman's Paradise" still appears on our license tags.

It has always been the cry from the anti-gun Left that the government won't come and take your guns. I believe that what we've seen in NO and the FEMA trailer village will forever put that myth to rest. Make no mistake...In a national calamity; the entity that is designed to protect us will try to disarm us.