Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

New Orleans Gun Confiscation is Blatantly Illegal
The Volokh Conspiracy ^ | 9/9/05 | David Kopel

Posted on 09/10/2005 5:59:21 AM PDT by Brian Mosely

New Orleans Gun Confiscation is Blatantly Illegal:

On Monday, I'll have an article on the New Orleans gun confiscation on Reason.com. But there's one part of the story that's too important to wait: the confiscation is plainly illegal. I realize that there are plausible arguments that the house-to-house break-ins and gun-point confiscations violate the Second, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, as well as numerous provisions of the Louisiana Constitution, including the right to arms. Indeed, the confiscations are inconsistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and with natural law. But my point is much more specific. The particular Louisiana statute which allows emergency controls on firearms also clearly disallows the complete prohibition being imposed by the New Orleans chief of police.

The relevant statute is La. Stat., title 14, § 329.6. It provides:

§329.6. Proclamation of state of emergency; conditions therefor; effect thereof

A. During times of great public crisis, disaster, rioting, catastrophe, or similar public emergency within the territorial limits of any municipality or parish, or in the event of reasonable apprehension of immediate danger thereof, and upon a finding that the public safety is imperiled thereby, the chief executive officer of any political subdivision or the district judge, district attorney, or the sheriff of any parish of this state, or the public safety director of a municipality, may request the governor to proclaim a state of emergency within any part or all of the territorial limits of such local government. Following such proclamation by the governor, and during the continuance of such state of emergency, the chief law enforcement officer of the political subdivision affected by the proclamation may, in order to protect life and property and to bring the emergency situation under control, promulgate orders affecting any part or all of the territorial limits of the municipality or parish:

(1) Establishing a curfew and prohibiting and/or controlling pedestrian and vehicular traffic, except essential emergency vehicles and personnel;

(2) Designating specific zones within which the occupancy and use of buildings and the ingress and egress of vehicles and persons shall be prohibited or regulated;

(3) Regulating and closing of places of amusement and assembly;

(4) Prohibiting the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages;

(5) Prohibiting and controlling the presence of persons on public streets and places;

(6) Regulating and controlling the possession, storage, display, sale, transport and use of firearms, other dangerous weapons and ammunition;

(7) Regulating and controlling the possession, storage, display, sale, transport and use of explosives and flammable materials and liquids, including but not limited to the closing of all wholesale and retail establishments which sell or distribute gasoline and other flammable products;

(8) Regulating and controlling the possession, storage, display, sale, transport and use of sound apparatus, including but not limited to public address systems, bull horns and megaphones.

(9) Prohibiting the sale or offer for sale of goods or services within the designated emergency area for value exceeding the prices ordinarily charged for comparable goods and services in the same market area at, or immediately before, the time of the state of emergency. However, the value received may include reasonable expenses and a charge for any attendant business risk in addition to the cost of the goods and services which necessarily are incurred in procuring the goods and services during the state of emergency, pursuant to the provisions of R.S. 29:701 through 716.

B. Such orders shall be effective from the time and in the manner prescribed in such orders and shall be published as soon as practicable in a newspaper of general circulation in the area affected by such order and transmitted to the radio and television media for publication and broadcast. Such orders shall cease to be in effect five days after their promulgation or upon declaration by the governor that the state of emergency no longer exists, whichever occurs sooner; however, the chief law enforcement officer, with the consent of the governor, may extend the effect of such orders for successive periods of not more than five days each by republication of such orders in the manner hereinabove provided.

C. All orders promulgated pursuant to this section shall be executed in triplicate and shall be filed with the clerk of court of the parish affected and with the secretary of state of this state.

D. During any period during which a state of emergency exists the proclaiming officer may appoint additional peace officers or firemen for temporary service, who need not be in the classified lists of such departments. Such additional persons shall be employed only for the time during which the emergency exists.

E. During the period of the existence of the state of emergency the chief law enforcement officer of the political subdivision may call upon the sheriff, mayor, or other chief executive officer of any other parish or municipality to furnish such law enforcement or fire protection personnel, or both, together with appropriate equipment and apparatus, as may be necessary to preserve the public peace and protect persons and property in the requesting area. Such aid shall be furnished to the chief law enforcement officer requesting it insofar as possible without withdrawing from the political subdivision furnishing such aid the minimum police and fire protection appearing necessary under the circumstances. In such cases when a state of emergency has been declared by the governor pursuant to R.S. 29:724 et seq., all first responders who are members of a state or local office of homeland security and emergency preparedness, including but not limited to medical personnel, emergency medical technicians, persons called to active duty service in the uniformed services of the United States, Louisiana National Guard, Louisiana Guard, Civil Air Patrol, law enforcement and fire protection personnel acting outside the territory of their regular employment shall be considered as performing services within the territory of their regular employment for purposes of compensation, pension, and other rights or benefits to which they may be entitled as incidents of their regular employment. Law enforcement officers acting pursuant to this Section outside the territory of their regular employment have the same authority to enforce the law as when acting within the territory of their own employment.

F. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, except in an imminent life threatening situation nothing herein shall restrict any uniformed employee of a licensed private security company, acting within the scope of employment, from entering and remaining in an area where an emergency has been declared. The provisions of this Subsection shall apply if the licensed private security company submits a list of employees and their assignment to be allowed into the area, to the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners, which shall forward the list to the chief law enforcement office of the parish and, if different, the agency in charge of the scene.

First, there are the procedural issues. According to subsection B, emergency orders must be published in a newspaper in the jurisdiction; the Times-Picayune is heroically publishing on-line, but I did not find any evidence, on Friday night, of any publication of the gun confiscation order, whose implementation had already begun on Thursday. According to subsection C, an emergency order must also be filed with the court in the relevant parish (impossible under current conditions), and with the Secretary of State (whose office in Baton Rouge is entirely functional). The Secretary's website gives no indication that a gun confiscation order has been filed.

The more serious issue is the substantive one. The emergency statute creates authority for "prohibiting" some things, and for "regulating" other things. The statute uses "prohibiting" in subsections (A)4, 5, and 9. The statute uses "regulating" in sections (A)3, 6, 7, and 8. Quite clearly the legislature meant to distinguish "prohibiting" authority from "regulating" authority. In the context of the statute, it is not plausible to claim that "prohibiting" means the same as "regulating."

"Prohibiting" authority applies to the sale of alcohol, presence on public streets, and the sale of goods or services at excessive prices. "Regulating" authority applies to firearms, flammable materials, and sound devices (such as megaphones). The "regulating" authority is undoubtedly broad. But it is not equivalent to "prohibiting." The statute does not authorize the New Orleans Police--abetted by the National Guard and the U.S. Marshalls--to break into homes, point guns at people, and confiscate every single private firearm--or every single private bullhorn or private cigarette lighter.

Yet New Orleans' lawless superintendant of police, P. Edwin Compass, has declared, "No one is allowed to be armed. We're going to take all the guns."

The Compass order appears to be plainly illegal. Under section 1983 of the federal Civil Rights law, any government employee who assists in the illegal confiscation would appear to be personally liable to a civil lawsuit. Moreover, higher-ranking officials--such as the National Guard officers who have ordered their troops to participate in the confiscation--would seem to be proper subjects for impeachment or other removal from office (and attendant forfeiture of pensions), depending on the procedures of their particular state.

All police officers, National Guard troops, and U.S. Marshals take an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws. It appears that carrying out an illegal order to confiscate lawfully-owned firearms from homes would be inconsistent with the oath, contrary to sworn duty, and perhaps a criminal act.
UPDATE: Orin's response to my post (above) contains several misunderstandings, in my view:

1. The most serious problem is that he reads the power of "regulating and controlling" as equivalent to the power of "prohibiting and controlling." By his theory, the Louisiana legislature could just as well have said "controlling" instead of "prohibiting and controlling" and the legislature still would have granted the power of prohibiting. In an abstract semantic sense, Orin's theory is not implausible. But the Louisiana legislature obviously used the words more precisely; the repeated shifts from "regulating" to "prohibitting" plainly show that the two words are not identical, and that adding "and controlling" after each word does not create identical phrases. If the Louisiana legislature meant to convey the same powers over each of the items in subsection (A), the legislature would have used the same operative words in each subsection.

2. He's right that the statute doesn't specify whether proper publication and filing are necessary for the emergency orders to be lawful. (And as my original post indicated, it's not absolutely certain that proper publication and filing have not occured, although it would be odd for the Louisiana Secretary of State not to post the filing of such an important order.) At least in some circumstances, strict adherence to the provisions of subsections (B) and (C) would be impossible. For example, the Secretary of State's office might be closed; indeed, the courts in Orleans Parish are currently closed. However, if the police chief failed to file the proper notice with the Secretary of State, even when the Secretary of State's office is open, the failure to file indicates, at the least, a disregard on the part of the chief for proper legal procedure.

3. Note subsection (B)'s rule that "Such orders shall be effective from the time and in the manner prescribed in such orders... Such orders shall cease to be in effect five days after their promulgation..." Has the police chief ever promulgated a proper emergency order about firearms? Sending police officers out to confiscate guns is not "promulgation." For the order to be valid, there must, at least, be some form of proper order to the public, not merely to the police. The "promulgation" must, at the least, include a date on which the order goes into effect, because a legal start date is necessary to calculate the automatic expiration date five days thereafter. It seems unlikely that a press conference merely announcing--after the confiscations and break-ins have already begun--the confiscations are taking place, consistutes the promulgation of an "order." The only Louisiana case law definitions of "promulgate" come from election law cases; they rely on the dictionary definition of "promulgate" as "To make known or announce officially and formally to the public." The cases further specify that "promulgate" should be understood in its specific statutory context. E.g., LeCompte v. Board of Sup'rs of Elections of Terrebonne Parish, 331 So.2d 173 (La. App. 1976). And it appears that the chief of police has not complied with any of the statute's specific standards for promulgation (newspaper, parish court, Secretary of State).

4. Violation of a person's state constitutional right to keep and bear arms is a violation of her 14th Amendment rights, and gives rise to a cause of action under section 1983. Kellogg v. City of Gary, 562 N.E.2d 685, 696 (Ind. 1990):

For all of the foregoing reasons, we now hold there is a state created right to bear arms which includes the right to carry a handgun with a license, provided that all of the requirements of the Indiana Firearms Act are met. This right is protected by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and is both a property and liberty interest for purposes of § 1983.

If the confiscation of firearms is illegal under Louisiana statute, then the confiscation is very likely a violation of the right to arms under the Louisiana constitution. Moreover, pursuant to United States v. Emerson, the Second Amendment is recognized as an individual right in the Fifth Circuit, which includes Louisiana. The Second Amendment, even if unincorporated, would be the basis of a section 1983 claim against any federal employees involved in the confiscation. Also, the warrantless entry into homes and illegal confiscation of property might give rise to section 1983 claims premised on the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

5. In response to some of the issues raised by comments on related posts...the President of the United States probably has the power, as Commander in Chief, to order the confiscation of firearms from areas in actual rebellion, following a proclamation of martial law. Martial law has not been declared. The "standard of scrutiny" question for the deprivation of state or federal constitutional rights is irrelevant here; the question would be relevant if there were a challenge to the constitutionality of the Louisiana emergency statute. When the police chief exercises power which he was never granted by law, then his act is ultra vires, and necessarily illegal.

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. The New Orleans Gun Confiscation -- A Response to David Kopel:
  2. New Orleans Gun Confiscation is Blatantly Illegal:
  3. Constitutions and Emergencies:
  4. Taking Away Their Guns in New Orleans:


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; US: Louisiana
KEYWORDS: bang; banglist; katrina; mdm; neworleans; nopd
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 221-222 next last
To: Brian Mosely

This is a land/gun grab.


61 posted on 09/10/2005 8:17:31 AM PDT by Kokojmudd (Outsource Federal Judiciary and US Senate to India, NOW!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NonValueAdded

Governor Brad Henry of Oklahoma needs to hear about the use of the National Guard from his state ASAP. Please contact him at the site below.

http://www.governor.state.ok.us/message.php


62 posted on 09/10/2005 8:17:37 AM PDT by Modok
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: Emmett McCarthy
I don't think there's the slightest concern on the part of the so-called "authorities" about what's legal or constitutional. They know that 5 cops with a lot of firepower can take your guns one way or the other. Government officials want us to sing some silly song about "respect for the rule of law" when, in fact, there's no rule of law at all, but just raw power. I personally have come to despise government in all its forms.

Welcome to the dark side, Emmett. We've kept the light on for ya! Blackbird.

63 posted on 09/10/2005 8:19:15 AM PDT by BlackbirdSST
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: VeritatisSplendor
VeritatisSplendor wrote:

Apparently wealthy people and business owners are being allowed to hire armed security guards to protect their property in N.O., according to my local paper.





According to the article, State law sanctions licensed guards :

Section F.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, except in an imminent life threatening situation nothing herein shall restrict any uniformed employee of a licensed private security company, acting within the scope of employment, from entering and remaining in an area where an emergency has been declared.


Thus, if we become 'licensed' we can exercise our right to bear arms. Whatta crock.
64 posted on 09/10/2005 8:20:47 AM PDT by dimquest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: PhiKapMom

Ping to #62, would be better coming from a constituent.


65 posted on 09/10/2005 8:22:27 AM PDT by NonValueAdded ("Freedom of speech makes it much easier to spot the idiots." [Jay Lessig, 2/7/2005])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: NonValueAdded

Thanks, but I would say - fill his inbox up!!!


66 posted on 09/10/2005 8:25:25 AM PDT by Modok
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 65 | View Replies]

To: backhoe
"Holdouts to Be Removed From New Orleans -- "They shot our dogs!" Miller, a 54-year-old housewife, said --
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1481470/posts?page=247#247
-- at least in St. Bernard Parish, police are now shooting people's animals right in front of them, if the people will not evacuate."

Anyone that shot one of my dawgs would be one dead "mo-fo"in short order.

Where I come from, you don't mess with a mans woman or his dawg. ( not necessarily in that order)
67 posted on 09/10/2005 8:31:23 AM PDT by Beagle8U
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Beagle8U
Anyone that shot one of my dawgs would be one dead "mo-fo"in short order. Where I come from, you don't mess with a mans woman or his dawg. ( not necessarily in that order)

I'd take my dog over some people any day of the week.

68 posted on 09/10/2005 8:35:27 AM PDT by backhoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: Brian Mosely

What's happening in LA in the wake of the hurricane and the flooding is even more ominous for the future of this free Republic than anything mother nature could ever have devised.


69 posted on 09/10/2005 8:36:17 AM PDT by texasbluebell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kokojmudd

bttt


70 posted on 09/10/2005 8:37:04 AM PDT by texasbluebell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: Brian Mosely; DoughtyOne; DocRock; devolve; dixiechick2000; onyx; dennisw; Mr. Mojo; potlatch; ...
Firearms, the Constitution, and Katrina - pings . .

=========================================

"Prohibiting" authority applies to the sale of alcohol, presence on public streets, and the sale of goods or services at excessive prices. "Regulating" authority applies to firearms, flammable materials, and sound devices (such as megaphones).

The "regulating" authority is undoubtedly broad.

But it is not equivalent to "prohibiting."

The statute does not authorize the New Orleans Police--abetted by the National Guard and the U.S. Marshalls--to break into homes, point guns at people, and confiscate every single private firearm--or every single private bullhorn or private cigarette lighter.


71 posted on 09/10/2005 8:39:35 AM PDT by Happy2BMe (Viva La MIGRA - LONG LIVE THE BORDER PATROL!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 19th LA Inf; Brian Mosely
Holdouts to Be Removed From New Orleans
72 posted on 09/10/2005 8:41:01 AM PDT by Happy2BMe (Viva La MIGRA - LONG LIVE THE BORDER PATROL!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: dljordan
Good morning.
"Personally, I think this is turning into a big land grab."

Katrina has given TPTB in LA a perfect opportunity to get rid of the city's underclass. The refugees have been dumped on local economies around the nation and few will return.

I can see the bulldozers leveling much of the flooded areas and a much smaller city being built on the higher ground. The tourist attractions will be preserved, of course, and protected from future flooding, but I wouldn't be surprised to see the lower parts of the city turned into a "wetland" World Heritage site.

Remember when bill clinton was President, many of us feared that FEMA would be the tool the statists would use to steal our guns and our property?

Michael Frazier
73 posted on 09/10/2005 8:45:15 AM PDT by brazzaville (no surrender no retreat, well, maybe retreat's ok)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Everybody; Brian Mosely

Turns out there is a 'legal' way to have the right to bear arms & protect your property in the 'great state' of Louisiana.


La. Stat., title 14, § 329.6. It provides:

Section F.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section, except in an imminent life threatening situation nothing herein shall restrict any uniformed employee of a licensed private security company, acting within the scope of employment, from entering and remaining in an area where an emergency has been declared.
The provisions of this Subsection shall apply if the licensed private security company submits a list of employees and their assignment to be allowed into the area, to the Louisiana State Board of Private Security Examiners, which shall forward the list to the chief law enforcement office of the parish and, if different, the agency in charge of the scene.






Thus the solution is outlined.

Form a neighborhood 'private security firm'. Get everyone in the families involved licensed, provide them with a uniform and their papers, and get the list to authorities at the state board; --- then enjoy your right to life, liberty or property in New Orleans.


74 posted on 09/10/2005 8:46:32 AM PDT by dimquest
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Brian Mosely
Thanks for the info, Brian.

There is a silver lining in this cloud.

The gummint tipped its hand for all to see in a back-alley card game.

Now it will never be able to win the gun grab nationally under any circumstances.

At ease, folks. The big bluffer just lost his shirt but doesn't know it yet.

Heh.

75 posted on 09/10/2005 8:48:45 AM PDT by Eastbound
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ASA Vet

During emergencies...the constitution is the first thing to be thrown out the front door. You can review various parts of the 9-11 episode and still see constitutional violations today.


76 posted on 09/10/2005 8:50:37 AM PDT by pepsionice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: brazzaville

" Remember when bill clinton was President, many of us feared that FEMA would be the tool the statists would use to steal our guns and our property?"

FEMA was set up by executive order by a previous president (I don't remember who) and some people say this was un-constitutional. It looks like the tin-foilers may have been right.


77 posted on 09/10/2005 8:51:48 AM PDT by dljordan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: ASA Vet
"A better solution would be for the US Attorney General to order the arrests of those issuing orders violating the civil rights of citizens."

Not Gonzales, you can be sure of that.

78 posted on 09/10/2005 8:52:59 AM PDT by spunkets
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Travis McGee
Good morning.
"March into the stadium."

But first, please march into the showers. Sanitation, you know.

Michael Frazier
79 posted on 09/10/2005 8:54:00 AM PDT by brazzaville (no surrender no retreat, well, maybe retreat's ok)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: 2nd amendment mama
"JPFO.org is putting together a project for just this purpose...to educate the public on their rights!"

What we have now is a lot of people knowing their rights and no one doing anything to protect them.

We really are too nice a people, we put up with so much outrage and just take it. I wonder when the first citizen will kill a gun confiscating LEO and if we would ever know it happened. Probably would if the practice spread, it could turn into a mini war. I'm not hoping for this by the way; I hope it doesn't happen.

Here's a an interesting hypothetical, if battles did break out between people fed up with the gun confiscation, and the feds, would the feds know to back down and go away? Or would they have to show who's the boss ala waco? And if they did the latter, how does that bode for the rest of us? How long would it take before our own people in N.O. are termed insurgents and terrorists because they don't want to leave their property or be disarmed? Is it our government anymore if that were to happen?

80 posted on 09/10/2005 8:59:08 AM PDT by Jason_b
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 42 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100 ... 221-222 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson