Posted on 09/24/2005 10:40:54 AM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana this afternoon issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and National Rifle Association (NRA), bringing an end to firearm seizures from citizens living in and around New Orleans.
District Judge Jay Zainey issued the restraining order against all parties named in a lawsuit filed Thursday by SAF and NRA. Defendants in the lawsuit include New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Chief Edwin Compass III.
“This is a great victory, not just for the NRA and SAF, but primarily for law-abiding gun owners everywhere,” said SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are proud to have joined forces with the NRA to put an end to what has amounted to a warrantless gun grab by authorities in New Orleans and surrounding jurisdictions.
“Over the past three weeks,” he continued, “residents who had lost virtually everything in the devastation following Hurricane Katrina had also essentially been stripped of something even more precious, their civil rights, and their right of self-defense, because of these gun seizures.
“SAF and NRA had no alternative but to take action,” Gottlieb added. “If these gun confiscations had been allowed to continue without challenge, it would have set a dangerous precedent that would have encouraged authorities in other jurisdictions to believe they also could suspend the civil rights of citizens in the event of some other emergency.
“What must happen now, and quickly,” said Gottlieb, “is for authorities in the New Orleans area to explain how they will return all of those firearms to their rightful owners, and do it promptly. What this ruling affirms is that even in the face of great natural disasters, governments cannot arbitrarily deprive citizens of their rights. Thanks to some great teamwork between SAF and the NRA, this sort of thing will hopefully never happen again.”
The Second Amendment Foundation is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers & an amicus brief & fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.
about time
PING!
Guns cause epilepsy???
Bravo!!
Good news indeed. Now how about returning the stolen firearms?
Give that old lady her gun back, NOW!
Thank God for SAF, NRA and JPFO - because the "justice" Dept. sure as hell wasn't of any help taking the lead here. Too busy looking for pot smokers and porn peddlers, no doubt.
Local law officials in NOLA would have been happy when only the gun looters had firearms.
Great news.
I did not even know this was going on.
Oh my god! A mayor deciding to suspend one article of the constitution. Wow!
Gun-grabbers all over the country are wondering what hit them!
BTW, where is Hizzoner Mayor Nagin? Haven't seen anything of him on TV since the levees broke (again). Is he holed up with his family in Dallas?
Somebody help me out here...were the cops taking guns from people by force or coercion, or were they collecting them (sans owner) in houses they raided looking for survivors?
Has anyone seen the ruling, or know on what basis the court ruled? I'd be very surprised (and pleased!) if the court found a Second Amendment violation. My guess is that they were either upholding some LA RKBA statute, or found some procedural problems with how the policy was carried out.
Now, after the cleanup, prosecute those responsible and put them in prison. Set an example.
As usual, a zany court ruling, too little, too late.
They were finding armed survivors in their homes and taking their guns and then forcing them to evacuate.
the cops taking guns from people by force!
I've realized over time, that it is much harder and distasteful for any 'agent of the government' to SEIZE
your weapons IF they KNOW your guns ARE LOADED!
From the reports that I have seen, the cops and the military were taking the weapons from houses that were empty, while the houses were being searched for bodies and survivors. That does not mean that they have been frisking the people that remained to relive them of the weapons that they had on their persons.
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