Any of ya'll have any more knowledge on this?  This is from the NRA side, but as with all fights, there is another side.  Anyone hear what NO Police are saying?  (This is an LEO discussion... trollers hit the road!)

Statement from Chris Cox on NRA's
Lawsuit Against the City of New Orleans
Today, in a landmark victory for NRA and law-abiding gun owners, Judge Carl J. Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied the City of New Orleans' motion to dismiss NRA's lawsuit against the city and held that the Second Amendment applies to law-abiding residents in the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans. Straining the bounds of credibility and reflecting the true sentiment of anti-gunners, the City of New Orleans contemptuously argued that the Second Amendment does not apply to residents in the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans.

NRA first filed suit after reports surfaced indicating that, following Hurricane Katrina, firearms were confiscated from law-abiding New Orleans residents. Former New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass issued orders to confiscate firearms from all citizens, under a flawed state emergency powers law. With that one order, the one means of self-protection innocent victims had during a time of widespread civil disorder was stripped away.

NRA filed suit in federal court and won a preliminary injunction ending all the illegal gun confiscations. After the City of New Orleans failed to comply with the court's ruling and dishonestly claimed that the gun confiscations never occurred, NRA filed a motion for contempt that included an order directing all seized firearms be returned to their rightful owners.

After denying the illegal confiscations for months, on March 15, 2006, Mayor Nagin and the New Orleans Police Department finally conceded in federal court that the seized firearms were stored in two trailers. The city then agreed in court to a process by which law-abiding citizens would be able to file a claim to receive their confiscated firearms. However, few firearms were returned because the NOPD never notified gun owners how to claim their guns, and turned many away citing impossible standards for proof of ownership.

Today's ruling sets the stage for a continued legal fight in which NRA will be forced to expend additional resources to fight back the anti-gunner's blatant and shameful attempts to ignore the Second Amendment. The case will now move to discovery and pre-trial preparation.

NRA will keep you informed of future developments regarding this case.

Without trolling, and from an LE standpoint, I think the bottom line here is to remember what our main job is - to uphold the law. And at the baseline of all our laws is that covenant which many of us have sworn a blood oath to protect - the US constitution.

I think this case could make for some very poignant and important case law. I would want to read the brief, but I have a hard time understanding how any portion of the constitution would not apply to louisiana or NOLA?

The judge had a hard time understanding how New Orleans figured the Second didn't apply. The other story I read on this suggested the judge was not overly kind to the city in their suspention of this Amendment.

Same story also said this would be heard under the 5th Circuit if it went that far. Apparently they've written opinions on how the 2nd Amendment is an individual right.

www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5289736

The city asked the judge to dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction, saying "the states, and by extension their political subdivisions, are free to proscribe the possession of firearms." The court rejected the motion, ruling the city did nothing to back up "the brazen assertion" that the second amendment did not apply.

Quoted: The judge had a hard time understanding how New Orleans figured the Second didn't apply. The other story I read on this suggested the judge was not overly kind to the city in their suspention of this Amendment. Same story also said this would be heard under the 5th Circuit if it went that far. Apparently they've written opinions on how the 2nd Amendment is an individual right. www.katc.com/Global/story.asp?S=5289736 The city asked the judge to dismiss the suit for lack of jurisdiction, saying "the states, and by extension their political subdivisions, are free to proscribe the possession of firearms." The court rejected the motion, ruling the city did nothing to back up "the brazen assertion" that the second amendment did not apply.

wow, it sounds like these lawyers arent trying too hard to defend their illegal actions, almost as if they want to put up an impotent defense in order to loose while still looking like they did their jobs. Even a court appointed lawyer could come up with something better than this quote.

"The city then agreed in court to a process by which law-abiding citizens would be able to file a claim to receive their confiscated firearms. However, few firearms were returned because the NOPD never notified gun owners how to claim their guns, and turned many away citing impossible standards for proof of ownership. "

This cites a critical issue that I have been trying to help people with for years.  I tell everyone I know that they should do a few things in order to protect themselves from crime.... would also help here as well.

1.  Make a photocopy of everything you keep in your wallet.
2.  Have all serial numbers, models, and makes written down on all items you would want returned in the event of a burglary.
3.  Keep a photocopy of your vehicle insurance card and do NOT keep your title in your vehicle.
4.  Store all this in an envelope and place it in a fire safe.

As for the issues at hand, I'm having a hard time with this and was wondering if there is any LEO opinion from the area on the issue.

Quoted: "The city then agreed in court to a process by which law-abiding citizens would be able to file a claim to receive their confiscated firearms. However, few firearms were returned because the NOPD never notified gun owners how to claim their guns, and turned many away citing impossible standards for proof of ownership. "

If they properly documented from whom each gun was seized (with an evidence tag/property reciept) that should have been no problem.  

"You took my legally owned gun from me.  Here is the receipt your officer provided when he did so.  If this is not a legal gun, the burden of proof lies on YOU, the state, to prove it so not ME, the individual to disprove."

That is the problem.  They should never have taken the guns in the first place.

I agree that they should have never taken the guns in the first place, I was hoping someone from NO was on the boards and may have a response.

Not really much to discuss, NOPD should NEVER have taken the citizens weapons from them in a time of need(or any other time for that matter).

I would like to know just what type of officer would do something illegal like that. I have discussed this with alot of cops in my pd and none would admit that they would follow an order like this. I KNOW I would refuse to do so. If I really wanted to appear to be following the order I would probably just have bad luck in locating any firearms.

Quoted: I agree that they should have never taken the guns in the first place, I was hoping someone from NO was on the boards and may have a response.

New Orleans PD was basically operating in panic mode the entire time.   They were coming out with a lot of nutty stuff, and individual initiative was about the only thing they had going for them as an organization.

There was also an unbelievable amount of stray and intentioned rounds being directed at law enforcement, rescue personnel, and god knows what.   There was also really no good place to put people that were committing crimes.   Upon coming upon an armed person committing a crime, or being suspected of committing a crime, about all that could be done was to take their weapons and let them go, hoping that being unarmed would make them slightly less of a problem.

I never saw a gun taken from a law abiding person just trying to protect their property.   But, I wouldn't say it didn't happen, because there was a lot worse things than that happening.   I was going back and forth between Mississippi and New Orleans and there was panic in New Orleans that just wasn't there in Mississippi.   My federal agency was asked by NOPD to forcibly remove people from their homes, and to disarm them, and my boss told them they were crazy.   That was the response they got from everyone to my knowledge.   We took guns from people when we found them committing crimes, not when they were protecting their homes or property.   I even gave ammuntion to armed citizens minding their own business who asked me for it.   But, for all I know, some of the ones we disarmed went and complained to the NRA about it later with a good story.

Most people still can't really comprehend how bad things got in New Orleans.   For a benchmark, I always point out that how many people here, who live in a city in the US, can picture a situation where dead bodies are lying (or often floating) in the streets, and people just walk around them for days?   Take a serious lack of sleep on most LEO's part, constant threat of being shot, either accidently or on purpose, worrying about your family, not having enough to eat, with a command structure that had completely collapsed, and it is amazing that there were not more rights transgressions than there were.   I am at the point now, where I don't think the real story of New Orleans (and Mississippi to a lesser extent) after Katrina is ever going to be told, or that anyone would want to hear it if it was.

And, the truth is, that for the most part, the LEO's in New Orleans or Mississippi, who were trying to play by the rules were ineffective and useless, anyway.   But, I will say this.   I was wrong when I thought all of the people who prepared for a total breakdown of civilization were paranoid loonies.   They were the ones who were right.  It can happen.

Hmmm...where to start?

Most firearms that were seized, that I know of, mind you (bear in mind we had zero commo, and much went on in different area that I was unaware of,) was done by NG units, the California Highway Patrol, and NJ State Police.
The NJ types in my area stopped doing this once we appraised them of LA gun laws, like open carry being legal for instance, but we had issues in my area with CHP and, especially, NG units, that did not want to allow people to be armed.

I personally seized two (2) firearms from living people: 1 was an SKS being carried by a man in his 20s who was running with the rifle in his hands behind houses, trying to avoid detection---and who declared that the weapon was not his when we cornered him and he dropped it.
The other was a Beretta 92 I seized from a NG Captain in order to return it to its rightful owner, an MD who was riding around on his bicycle rendering what aid he could to any who needed it, and who was openly carrying the sidearm to discourage anyone who might want the drugs in his bag.

In my area, barring the NG, we had no problem with people carrying firearms, so long as they were not shooting at us or stealing them.  I did participate in the removal of firearms from houses that the CHP (I have no idea who told them to start doing this,) had broken in to in order to check for bodies.  In those cases the weapons were now unsecured and free for the taking by any of the numerous looters.  I was at that time blissfully ignorant of the fact that my department was going to try to never return the weapons.  Every one I took from a house like that was documented, and the address listed on what passed for evidence tags (we were writing on scraps of paper and tying them to the weapons, which were then piled in a trailer.)  It should not really have surprised me that this dept. would pull some crap like they did---even when they were "returning" the weapons, they were open for *one week* from 10am to 2pm, and required either a bill of sale or a notarized letter listing the serial number(s) of the weapon or weapons.


I know some idiots on my dept. who think that the little people shouldn't have firearms, and who are pissed that our state has outlawed their confiscation (I even know of one who plans on seizing them anyway......)  But to tell the truth, there is no "other side" in this one.  We were not, and could not be, everywhere.  Some of us, including some who have not been fired, were comitting crimes themselves.  There was not, and is not, any justification for the seizure of firearms from people not engaged in criminal activity.  I can sort of stand by the taking of unsecured firearms, simply to prevent their theft, but now am shy about that, given what the dept. is doing now.

Heck, I could go on for days about this and other issues, like our idiot mayor and superintendent saying there was a "curfew" and having people arrested for it.  They never bothered to read the law which allowed them to establish such a thing, or they would have known it can only last 5 days, tops, unless the governor extends a declaration of emergency-----every five days.  Accompanied by rather heavy standards of public notification.

Arrgh.........catch me when I'm drinking and posting some time, not when I'm sitting at the office waiting for the S.O. to bring someone in for debriefing.

thank you all from the south, I feel better informed now.  I hope this helped others as well.