Posted on 04/19/2006 12:02:31 PM PDT by girlangler
FEATURE
Remember New Orleans
Monday, in a small police trailer in downtown New Orleans, police began returning firearms seized in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Weapons, city residents like Frederick Thomas say were taken at the time they were most needed. "You got to imagine you're in a neighborhood with no lights," said Thomas. "It's really dark. We're like the only ones in our block that came back first. What are you going to do pick up a stick and fight somebody with a gun."
Fredrick Thomas is one of the lucky ones. He got his gun back.
According to sources in New Orleans, the efforts to return the firearms are lackadaisical, at best. Further, they're complicated by a myriad of paperwork the police are requiring in order to retrieve a weapon. To claim a weapon, you must provide proof of ownership, a picture id and an affidavit stating that the gun belongs to you. The NOPD also conducts a criminal background check on the owner prior to releasing the weapon.
Last night in New Orleans, Louisiana NRA Executive Director Wayne LaPierre convened a town meeting.
A meeting, LaPierre said was essential to facilitate citizens of New Orleans coming forward to tell individual stories of "the first time in our history law-abiding American citizens have had their firearms systematically confiscated - by their own government. "
With the city in a shambles, public services non-existent and gangs of looters openly defying police, the police department seized firearms, forcibly in many instances, from residents' homes. Those seizures, LaPerre says, crippled law abiding citizens and gave the "predators" of New Orleans additional victims to prey upon.
Law abiding citizens, LaPierre says, were turned into victims by the very police officers they expected to defend them.
Shortly before last night's meeting, LaPierre took time to speak with Jim Shepherd about the town meeting and why the National Rifle Association feels the actions of the New Orleans Police Department are significant to the entire nation.
"In New Orleans," LaPierre said, "there were no 9-11 emergency services. Looters and gangs of thugs openly roamed the streets. They laughed at the police. When you have good people and bad people in that sort of situation, only armed good people have a fair chance. New Orleans police made it impossible for good people to have a chance."
"Remember New Orleans," he said, "is our new rallying cry."
"From now on, when people ask me if the Second Amendment is relevant in this century," he says, "I'll have a simple response: Remember New Orleans."
Despite their best efforts otherwise, LaPierre says New Orleans officials can't deny their actions - or the premeditation behind them.
"We have tape of the New Orleans police chief telling his officers to confiscate firearms," he stated, "The officers did what they were told. They went into people's homes and took the guns of law-abiding citizens. No paperwork. No receipts. People were sitting in their homes and had their guns taken - sometimes at gunpoint - by their own police."
"We brought suit and confronted them in court. When the federal judge ordered them to cease and desist, they denied it. After the judge pressed them, they admitted they did, in fact, have guns."
"Not just 'some' guns," LaPierre said, "hundreds and thousands of guns."
Because of that lack of faith, he says the NRA has only "temporarily" withdrawn the contempt suit. They're ready - at any time - to re-file if it becomes necessary.
"They say they'll return the guns," he said, "so we'll trust - for now - that they will. But we'll not just trust - we'll verify."
By LaPierre's reckoning, the illegal actions taken against citizens by the politicians and officials of New Orleans has hurt the case for rebuilding the city with the American people.
"When you defy a court order, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights of the United States, you are corrupt," he stated flatly, "the American people will resist supporting corrupt public officials. What they did was - and is - corrupt."
So why come to New Orleans?
"To hear the stories - from the people - first hand," he said, "they told us they needed to tell their stories. And we're taping those stories - for everyone to hear. "
"We'll broadcast their stories from Maine to Montana and people can see what happened to the citizens of New Orleans. We will use what happened in New Orleans to get laws passed to keep this from ever happening again."
"In an emergency, you can't count on the government, the politicians or the police. You can only count on one thing: the presence of thugs, robbers and looters. In the next big emergency, the predators will be out. "
"Government response," he concluded, "is proven from New Orleans to be unpredictable - at best. Politicians do not have the right to take arms from the citizenry, especially in time of emergency. They just do not."
So what is the message the NRA hopes to leave?
"Hope." says LaPierre, "And freedom. Based on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights."
What about the response he can expect from Mayor Ray Nagin and other New Orleans officials?
"This," said LaPierre, "is the first shot of the modern Concord Bridge. We fought King George and won. New Orleans won't be a problem."
Before dashing off to a television interview, LaPierre left me with three final words: "Remember New Orleans."
Any gun owner who isn't--needs to be. The gun-grabbers will never quit (and in fact are gearing up for a new round of propaganda to stimulate more gun laws---see all the article here about Bloomberg's meeting with other "big-city mayors"--although probably better to call them "BLUE-city mayors).
NRA Bump
Just the thought of N.O. makes me puke sick. Shame on those police officers for knowingly violating citizen’s constitutional rights. Maybe the ones who walked off the job weren't so bad after all.
It was not just the NOPD that particapated in the gun confiscations. The OK national guard, the US Marshalls, and the BATF did the seizures of weapons. The BATF was the point agency.
First I've heard about it.
Every Freeper should be an NRA member and put the initials in the tagline.
There's no excuse for a paltry 4 million members out of 80 million gun owners.
My wife has a cousin who's husband is a Saint Tammany Parish Sheriff's Deputy. I saw this guy over Christmas. He's a good guy, liked him from the moment I first met him years ago. VERY pro-gun it always seemd to me. I asked him about the grab. Coulda knocked me over with a feather when he told me that he and his guys were confiscating guns but only from vehicles and boats trying to get in or out of the city of N.O. As if that made a difference. He argued further that I didn't know what it was like for a cop to be on the edge of a war zone and not knowing if the guys in the car were just going to open up or not. He claimed to have regularly stopped and grabbed carolads and boatloads of weapons....AND THEN when I ask him what HE would have done if BATF (or whomever) had come to HIS home after his weapons? Oh that'd be a MASSIVE firefight! He was getting pretty defensive and loud at a family gathering, so I just dropped the issue. But DANG! You just never know.
Which got me to pondering, sure there are a lot of pro 2nd Amendment cops out there. But how many would refuse a direct order from a superior or a ranking politician to go forth and grab guns? Let's say that the GOP is swept from office (Oval and Congress) in 2008. Hillary and company get into power. They run rampant and a gun ban passes. Chuckie Schumer's and Slimestein's wet dream....Mr & Mrs America...TURN THEM ALL IN! Just like Slimestein said on CNN a few years ago. The word goes forth to the states, the state governments pass the word to the locals. Yada Yada Yada. The Chief looks at Deputy Dawg and says: Your neighbor down yonder has a great collection of Trap & Skeet guns. Go get 'em. ???? WTF? Over? Coming in broken and stupid, over?
What happens now? Does Deputy Dawg tell his chief to go PI$$ up a rope? Or does he contemplate that he's only a few years from full retirement? And who's gonna take care of his family while he's in the federal pen getting killed by the cons for being a cop? And won't the next cop only do the deed anyway??? These are valid questions WE better start addressing. Because it's only a matter of time before we find out....the hard way.
"But how many would refuse a direct order from a superior or a ranking politician to go forth and grab guns?"
The realistic answer is probably none, BUT I could be wrong and I sure hope I am.
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ON THE NET...
http://www.truthusa.com/2ndAmendment.html
I know what I would do. Plans within plans; deceptions within deceptions.
Scary stuff. But attitudes and sentiments from LEO's that I have seen before.
Done! and thanks.
Those weren't police officers taking citizens' guns in New Orleans. Just looters dressed better than the others.
tell the chief nothing.use officer discretion. you can bust every kid you catch with a joint,write reports, show up for court,etc. or you can take the bong,dump the baggie, scold the little moron and send him on his way, or you can look the other way. I think your friend's excuse "just followin' orders" is bunk.
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