Posted on 06/03/2006 6:04:35 PM PDT by mom4kittys
Riley says he'll confiscate weapons if disaster strikes, gun rights activists outraged
10:29 PM CDT on Friday, June 2, 2006 Jonathan Betz / WWL-TV News Reporter
Gun rights activists were up in arms Friday after New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley said he would confiscate weapons should disaster strike.
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Frederick Thomas, from New Orleans, leaves New Orleans Police with his semi-automatic pistol that was confiscated in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans on Monday April 17, 2006.
The chief’s comments came after a federal lawsuit forced the city to return hundreds of firearms that were seized in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
In an interview with WWL Radio, Riley said his officers would seize guns from people on the streets if another storm was to hit New Orleans.
“During a circumstance like that, we cannot allow people to walk the street carrying guns…as law enforcement officers we will confiscate the weapon if a person is walking down the street and they may be arrested,” Riley said.
The National Rifle Association sued the city and forced it to return hundreds of guns, after officers seized them during Katrina. Gun rights activists were once again outraged by Riley's comments.
”It’s shocking, there's nothing about a police chief's opinion that gives them a super sized authority to throw the constitution out the window,” said NRA Executive Vice-President Wayne Lapierre.
“God spared a lot of people in this storm, he also spared a lot of violent people who were committing violent crimes with firearms,” one ATF agent said regarding the confiscation of weapons during Katrina.
But gun activists said the move robbed people of their right to protect themselves when chaos ruled the city.
“Your firearm in your home, was the only protection from the criminal element,” said State Representative Steve Scalise.
Chief Riley said Friday that officers would not again enter people’s homes to seize weapons.
During Katrina, state law gave the chief the authority to take guns during an emergency. Since then lawmakers have re-written the law, making it a crime, one they said the chief was threatening to commit.
“He does not have the right to confiscate their firearms, nobody in this country does, that's why we have a 2nd amendment to our constitution,” said Scalise.
That place is hopeless.
Well his police force did a good job of confiscating cars, TV's, and anything of value during Katrina, so I guess they are experienced in confiscating things.
I know that this isn't about actual self-defense but it does concern gun ownership.
ping
An emergency is the time when it is most important to have a firearm handy!
How many times does N.O. have to get sunk before it is abandoned?
How can we make it happen sooner?
Gimme yer guns, er I'll bust yer ass good.
I'll do that anyway, if I feel like I should.
Signed Chief Riley and the ATF gang.
N'awlins is a great place to be FROM. A government-dependent basket case.
MOLON LABE!
Kinda' like when you go to Mexico, you know the odds are against you returning without getting ripped off at least once.
How do you sink N.O. again? Pray for it.
If Riley wants to come out and play with the law-abiding citizen and try and take away their firearms let those citizens unite and simply defend themselves from his tyrrany by opening fire.
If every place they go to confiscate firearms is met with gunfire that results in injury or death for at least one of them at each occasion might persuade them to leave the law-abiding citizen alone and actually go after the criminals.
As a frequent visitor (it's not very far from here) I can tell you that if you go there, you'd better be packing something as the odds are not in your favor otherwise.
Get a load of this ping
Well said!
Interestingly, *Texas* law specifically allows you to resist a peace officer's attempt to illegally confiscate your weapons (or otherwise abuse his authority) with force, up to and including deadly force. (Note that this is a gross simplification - but it IS in there).
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