Guilty! Guilty as Hell!
Three years after Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Eddie Compass trampled on the rights of gun owners immediately after hurricane Katrina, a permanent injunction has been issued against the city of New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin and current Police Chief Warren Riley. 
Judge Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana signed the permanent injunction against New Orleans. The city admitted the firearm confiscations carried out by Ray Nagin and Chief Warren Riley were unconstitutional and illegal.
At the time of the post-Katrina gun confiscations, Warren Riley was second in command beneath Police Superintendent Eddie Compass. Compass made a futile attempt at saving his boss when he fell on his sword, and Warren Riley assumed his position on the police force. Since that time, Riley declared he would again confiscate firearms in a disaster. He later rethought his statements.
Under the terms of the injunction, Mayor Ray Nagin, Police Chief Warren Riley and any agents or employees of the City of New Orleans shall:
· cease and desist confiscating lawfully possessed firearms from all citizens.
· make an aggressive attempt to return any and all firearms which may have been confiscated during the period August 29 to December 31, 2005.
· within one month of the settlement, post on the City website the procedure for the return of confiscated firearms. This notice must include an interactive form for those claiming firearms to fill out, resulting in timely transmission of the information to the appropriate official. All other information on claiming a firearm will also be included on the site.
· within one month of the settlement, the City must mail notices to all individuals who are identified on the property tags of firearms in the City's possession which were confiscated during the aftermath of Katrina.
Thank you NRA and SAF! If you, as a gun owner have not yet joined, do so.
Judge Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana signed the permanent injunction against New Orleans. The city admitted the firearm confiscations carried out by Ray Nagin and Chief Warren Riley were unconstitutional and illegal. At the time of the post-Katrina gun confiscations, Warren Riley was second in command beneath Police Superintendent Eddie Compass. Compass made a futile attempt at saving his boss when he fell on his sword, and Warren Riley assumed his position on the police force. Since that time, Riley declared he would again confiscate firearms in a disaster. He later rethought his statements.
Under the terms of the injunction, Mayor Ray Nagin, Police Chief Warren Riley and any agents or employees of the City of New Orleans shall:
· cease and desist confiscating lawfully possessed firearms from all citizens.
· make an aggressive attempt to return any and all firearms which may have been confiscated during the period August 29 to December 31, 2005.
· within one month of the settlement, post on the City website the procedure for the return of confiscated firearms. This notice must include an interactive form for those claiming firearms to fill out, resulting in timely transmission of the information to the appropriate official. All other information on claiming a firearm will also be included on the site. · within one month of the settlement, the City must mail notices to all individuals who are identified on the property tags of firearms in the City's possession which were confiscated during the aftermath of Katrina.
Thank you NRA and SAF! If you, as a gun owner have not yet joined, do so.
Labels: New Orleans Gun Confiscations
posted by Xavier at 6:07 PM
9 Comments:
lets see how they crawdad now
This 'settlement' is predicated on the cities honesty and record keeping.
Will they be truthful about what firearms they stole from the citizens? Did the police actually keep records on who's property they stole? If so will they admit it?
My personal bet: in six months less than 10% of the personal property is returned because the city (A) didn't keep a record of who they stole it from, and (B)won't accept anything less than a recognizable sales receipt as proof of ownership (and probably not even that).
There is anecdotal evidence that suggests New Orleans authorities are stealing lawful citizens weapons on a daily basis right now, as this injunction is being issued, specifically during vehicle stops.
What in the world convinces anyone that a simple injunction with no real force behind it will have any more power over those thieving scoundrels than the unenforced Bill Of Rights has?
The day they put the mayors nuts in a little box and tell them he can visit them when the crimes are undone... that day I'll think something is actually being done.
Here's the return plan:
http://www.wwltv.com/topstories/stories/wwl100808cbnra.f1ca8e16.html
I saw no 'consequences' for the Major or Chief of Police for past criminal actions (gun confiscations) so I'm not at all convinced that future actions of the same nature will not take place...
I can't imagine what game them the idea that they could confiscate guns except from people who were using them in cimrinal acts in which case they would be arrested anyway.
I also think the "punishment" is pretty mild as it does not affect the individuals who made the decision.
I've heard about traffic stops where the New Orleans police ask people if they have firearms, and if they do (your average law abiding citizen would probably say 'yes' if they did...), confiscating them if no proof of ownership could be provided.
I figured that only happened in New Orleans.
I just had a wake up call.
I work part time at a local gun shop on weekends. Yesterday I stopped by the shop when I was on my lunch hour from my regular job. My boss asked me if I could look at something (whenever something broken comes in he has me look at it). He hands me an AK47 with a folding stock. I recognized it. We ordered it a while back for a customer. It was one of those cheap Century builds, the kind of thing we would never put on our shelf, but order for people if they really want them. This is the third time it has fallen back into my hands to fix.
The only problem this time was that the person that put the dust cover on put it on incorrectly, no biggie.
My boss then tells me that the owner had it in his car, got pulled over, and had it confiscated because he could not prove it was his. He came to the shop and the boss gave him copies of his paperwork. The police then gave him the rifle back... in pieces. It had been disassembled and put in a box.
This got me thinking about my guns. Could I prove they were mine? I don't think I kept the receipts for any of the guns I bought since I went to work at the shop. I could get copies of the 4473s, but that's about it. What about guns I bought before then? Guns I built from parts? Guns I bought when I was a kid and have since lost the receipts?
Why does the cop holding the pistol in the photo remind me of Idi Amin?
carteach0, you nailed it. The city wasn't in the business of giving out receipts when took the guns, so the likelihood of a property tag having anything on it is minimal. And there should have been personal penalties...fines, or at least probation for the decision makers for petty theft at a minimum, and depriving citizens of civil rights under color of law.
how do you know they confiscated anything?
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