Posted on 09/09/2005 12:21:08 PM PDT by Freebird Forever
GOA Denounces Gun Confiscations In New Orleans
For Immediate Release September 9, 2005 Contact: Ellie McDaniel 703-321-8585
"Simply outrageous!"
That was the reaction from Erich Pratt, Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America, after learning that the city of New Orleans had begun confiscating legally-owned firearms from New Orleans' residents.
"By what authority can the mayor order these confiscations?" Pratt said. "You can't legitimately suspend the God-given rights of American citizens who have committed no crimes.
"These confiscations will not make the people of New Orleans any safer. Privately owned firearms were the only thing which prevented good people from becoming victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when few policemen were to be found anywhere in the city.
"There have been many stories of self-defense, where stranded survivors were able to use firearms to protect what little they had, against the criminal thugs who had been released from the prisons. To take away their firearms now is simply adding 'insult to injury.'
"Unfortunately, we have yet to learn the lessons from previous dark episodes in our recent history," Pratt said. "We need to remember those lessons, such as the riots of Los Angeles more than a decade ago."
For several days in 1992, Los Angeles was in complete turmoil as stores were looted and burned. Motorists were dragged from their cars and beaten. As in New Orleans, police in L.A. were very slow in responding to the crisis. Many Guardsmen, after being mobilized to the affected areas, sat by and watched the violence because their rifles were low on ammunition.
"But not everybody in Los Angeles suffered," Pratt said. "In some of the hot spots, Korean merchants were able to successfully protect their stores with semi-automatic firearms. In areas where armed citizens banded together for self-protection, their businesses were spared while others -- which were left unprotected -- burned to the ground."
Interestingly, press reports in the aftermath of the riots described how life-long gun control supporters were running to gun stores to buy an item they never thought they would need -- a gun. Tragically, they were surprised (and outraged!) to learn there was a 15-day waiting period upon firearms.
"Will we never learn?" Pratt said. "It is a fact that firearms save millions of lives every year. So if Mayor Ray Nagin really wanted to help the decent citizens of New Orleans, he would be issuing them firearms instead of taking them away. Nagin's actions will put people in further jeopardy -- and if one citizen dies in New Orleans because he was deprived of the ability to defend himself or his family, there will be blood on the Mayor's hands."
GOA is already looking to draft legislation at both the state and federal level to preclude authorities from imposing ANY firearms restrictions during emergency response activities. Please stay tuned for further updates.
-- GOA --
Erich Pratt is the Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America, a national gun lobby with over 300,000 members located at 8001 Forbes Place, Springfield, VA 22151 and at http://www.gunowners.org on the web.
He is the author of a forthcoming civil government textbook, The Constitutional Recipe for Freedom: Twelve Principles of Liberty Today’s Politicians Don’t Want You to Know.
Either Erich Pratt or another GOA spokesman is available for press interviews.
Too good to be true...
Just when you need a weapon the most too.
Time for the NRA to express their outrage as well.
Great idea. Take guns away from the law-abiding, so the thugs and criminals can have free rein.
Is this the Louisiana National guard or the police or Feds?
The right of self defense is fundamental and the 2nd amendment shouldn't be voided by anything a governor can do.
It's about time.
The NRA response has been abysmal. That's because they haven't responded at all.
It's the Oklahoma National Guard.
NO GUNS IN NEW ORLEANS! YOU CAN COME ON DOWN!........
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GEAUXA is beginning to rock
:-)
We will see what they do. I was told that they had so many conflicting stories that they did not want to put their foot in their mouth before they know what is going on. I think they could come out with a broadly worded statement.
But it is. The Constitution and the Second Amendment have been flushed down the toilet without any shouting or screaming from the elected guys and gals in D.C.
All according to plan.
ROFL - Gotta love it!!!!!
I mean, it works for the ACLU... why can't a conservative organization use the same tactic?
Guard and police. The Feds (to their credit) are refusing to have anything to do with it.
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