By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
March 16, 2006
(CNSNews.com) - A Second Amendment group calls it a "stunning reversal." After denying it for months, the City of New Orleans on Wednesday admitted that it does have a stockpile of firearms seized from private citizens in the days following Hurricane Katrina.
The city even took lawyers to the place where some 1,000 firearms are being stored.
"This is a very significant event," said attorney Dan Holliday, who represents National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation in an on-going lawsuit seeking to stop the city from seizing privately-owned firearms.
The city's disclosure came as attorneys for both sides prepared for a court hearing on a motion to hold the city in contempt. (On March 1, The Second Amendment Foundation and the National Rifle Association filed a motion to have New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley held in contempt of court for refusing to comply with an injunction to stop illegal gun confiscations and return all seized firearms to their rightful owners.)
"We're almost in disbelief," said Second Amendment Foundation Founder Alan Gottlieb on Wednesday. "For months, the city has maintained it did not have any guns in its possession that had been taken from people following the hurricane. Now our attorneys have seen the proof that New Orleans was less than honest with the court."
Under an agreement with the court, the hearing on the contempt motion has been delayed for two weeks, and during that time, the city reportedly will set up a process to return the guns to their lawful owners.
"While we are stunned at this complete reversal on the city's part, the important immediate issue is making sure gun owners get their property back," Gottlieb said.
"What happened in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was an outrage," he added. "Equally disturbing is the fact that it apparently took a motion for contempt to force the city to admit what it had been denying for the past five months."
As Cybercast News Service reported in February, the National Rifle Association used images of law enforcement officers confiscating legally possessed firearms from New Orleans residents to rally conservatives at a recent conference in Washington.
National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre urged people attending the Conservative Political Action Conference to "Remember New Orleans!"