Posted on 10/09/2008 8:25:11 PM PDT by neverdem
Agreeing to settle a lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Association, the city of New Orleans promised this week to return hundreds of firearms seized by police from law-abiding citizens during the chaotic days that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Gun-rights groups took the city to task after National Guard soldiers and police officers confiscated weapons without a warrant or probable cause during the storm's aftermath.
U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier hasn't signed the agreement yet, and no monetary award is in the settlement.
The city agreed to give back the guns to their rightful owners via its Web site. Within one month, the city's Web site will include a form that citizens may fill out as the first step to retrieving their weapons.
Proof of ownership isn't required, but an owner must sign an affidavit claiming ownership and pass a background check.
The city may dispose of guns that sit unclaimed for two years.
Gun-rights advocates cheered the settlement, calling it long-overdue.
"This agreement sends a message across the nation that no city can take away our Second Amendment right to protect our families," said U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise.
The lawsuit, filed Sept. 22, 2005, by the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation, accused the city of allowing officers to strip people of their weapons. The police said that cops took only stolen guns, or those found in empty homes.
Police spokesman Bob Young said the department has stored 552 guns that were confiscated from Aug. 29, 2005, through Dec. 31, 2005.
The gun lobbying groups said the city violated gun owners' constitutional right to bear arms and left them to fend for themselves after Katrina "at the mercy of roving gangs, home invaders, and other criminals."
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Just tell the nice officers you feel secure since they are out there and don't display any weapons or even mention guns.
That wasn’t strong enough.
But I have to admit I loved the Texas Governor’s approach to Gustav. Unlike New Orleans, the Texas governor advertised that good Hustonians were stocking up on ammo and watching over their neighbor’s property.
Where is the part where the officials and officers who ordered and carried out this civil rights violation are to be punished and dismissed?
Should be someone being court-martialed for this;if American citizens don't stomp down hard on officials abusing authority then they will continue to abuse the citizens.
They only took guns that had been stolen or from empty houses?
Excuse me?
Am I the only one who remembers seeing the little old lady literally thrown into a wall?
The guns are all ruined and worthless. 3 years in humid New Orleans will ruin any gun not properly stored. The guns stolen by St Tammany Sheriff’s dept were a rusted mess after only one year based on the photos that were published.
Everyone should read the book “The Great New Orleans Gun Grab” so you will know what you are in for when Obama comes for your guns. I’ve already lived through this. Never thought I would live to see something like that happen, but no one had any rights at all except those who had the most firepower. A single homeowner with a gun was no match for a half dozen cops with drawn weapons who invaded homes at will.
Hmmmm...;citizens aren't receiving any damage payments, citizens being required to submit to a background check to retrieve their own property illegally seized by the government, no public contrition required of the government perpetrators, no government officials being investigated, no government officials loosing their jobs, no government officials going to trial, no government officials being sent to prison!
Doesn't smell like victory to me.
Wow! Great news that we can petition our government to return our property 3 years after it is desperately needed! God Bless America, I say.
In Terrytown, the JPSO, told my neighbors & me to stay on our property for our safety.
All was quite on our end, but we did hear frequent shots fired throughout the night.
BTW, I would have never given my rifle up to anyone.
The violations against the citizenry should result in cops getting fired.
MOLON LABE
Which is why it's urgently important for Americans to develop a sense of being part of the armed citizen militia, prepared to band together with neighbors and fight whenever the need arises.
Neighborhoods that hired their own private security force were left alone by the cops because the cops were totally outgunned. One neighborhood hired an Israeli security force and another hired a Blackwater security force. At the time the homeowners thought they were protecting their property from gutterpunk looters, but it turns out they also kept out the cops who were terrorizing the city and invading homes.
Good advice. When the situation devolves to "natural law", one will note that even animals fully capable of defending themselves prefer to remain, by and large, invisible.
Having a "giveaway" handy might also be a good idea.
I've been pondering this for a long time. I think neighbors should meet well before any catastrophe to form a neighborhood militia. The cops couldn't get at the citizens one-by-one if the citizens were prepared in advance.
I recall seeing a snapshot of the ‘storage’, a steel cargo container outside with all the guns thown into it.
Don’t expect to see valuable collectible firearms again, and those that will be returned are likely to be rusted and ruined.
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