Major Victory For Firearms Owners And Freedom In Louisiana

dwarven1

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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.
 
Since they kept no records of who they took what from, how do they return it?

Bet it never happens.

ETA - I see my NRA Membership cost has paid off. They HAVE changed for the better.
 
It's a start.

I'd really be surprised if any of the firearms are returned though. I've already sent some letters out & will be sending more in regards to this.

CD
 
Ya know, Time to time you hear people saying that the NRA does not do enough, but it's stories like this that really show what they arer capable of.
 
Yea, the NRA can do good things. I still stand by the statement that they don't do enough for states they feel are "lost." Like MA, CA, NY, etc...

But this is a good thing.

I do believe that it's going to be hard to get their weapons back.

I'm sure that they are already in someone's safe.
 
I'm very heartened to see the NRA getting some brass ones. I support them, but C's right - we could use more of their help in this state.
 
Hot damn, good news....
As for the firearms, there should be a line item in that $200 billion to make whole those who were stolen from.
And give the old lady a mil for her trouble too but make that come out of the CHP firearm violence education fund.
 
Two points worth pondering:

- NRA release IGNORES (intentionally) the organization that really had the brass balls to face off the CHP and other thugs in NO. SAF was NOT mentioned, was it.

- If any crisis were to happen in Boston (City of), NYC, NJ, etc. you can bet that they will confiscate guns, not give receipts and have them destroyed faster than a judge could rule against them. Also realize that each Fed District sets their own precedents, and what was ruled in LA may not be the same as what would be ruled in MA, NY, or NJ Fed Courts. I am certain that our anti-gun leaders "would take their chances with the courts" and still order officers to move against their citizens. Perhaps they do what NO did and use out-of-state officers to do the dirty work, but the result would be the same.

Here's another release on this story. . . I do not have the cite for it, but suspect it was SAF.

FEDERAL JUDGE HALTS NEW ORLEANS GUN SEIZURES BELLEVUE, WA – 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 Zaney 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.”
 
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