Gun confiscating mayor of N.O. will return seized guns to owners

[benEzra]

Strange how many folks are so quick to bash cops in NO--but conviently forget the hundreds--if not thousands--of police officers who came from all over the country ON THEIR OWN DIME to work--sometimes without compensation--to attempt to save lives and afterward recover the dead.

I personally know cops who live in NO, who lost everything they owned. I say again--EVERYTHING THEY OWNED. They put on what they could, uniform or not and went to work. One guy I know lived out of his patrol car for a MONTH. He had NOTHING else--only one or two changes of clothes.

But I'm sure that someone else will say, "pooh-pooh, they're still jack-booted thugs, trampling on our rights!" Horse manure.

I took the other poster's statement to be referring to those officers who committed multiple felonies in the act of stealing people's guns, not to New Orleans police officers in general. IMHO, arguing that officers who committed felony assault and felony theft of a firearm under color of law should be prosecuted isn't cop-bashing. Generalizing their criminal behavior to all police officers would be, but I didn't read the other member's post that way.

FWIW, most/all of the officers shown confiscating guns from law-abiding homeowners on the ABC News video were out-of-staters, not NOPD (California Highway Patrol, reportedly a few Federal DEA agents, and possibly some Oklahoma National Guard). Deputy Police Chief Compass was the only NOPD person I recall from that video. The order appears to have come from Mayor Nagin, but that doesn't mean the NOPD rank-and-file were all for it. A lot of those guys were probably out rescuing people instead...which the gun-grabbers should have been doing...

 

[swampsniper]

The thing that concerns me is that the "just following orders" mindset seems prevalent in law enforcement, just as it was in the German army 65 years ago. Some cops will trash and ignore the oath they took, just for a job and a pension.
To the LEOs here, how many of you would confiscate legally held firearms if you boss ordered it? What percentage of your fellow officers do you think would do so?
No one wants to trash anyone, but, come on, can't you see how trust has been eroded?

 

[jondar]

Robert Hairless Thanks for the link to "The Destructors". I saved it in My Documents. Will read it later. Wasn't aware that Greene wrote it. My son is a great admirer of Greene. Will e-mail it to him.

 

[TexasRifleman]

But I'm sure that someone else will say, "pooh-pooh, they're still jack-booted thugs, trampling on our rights!" Horse manure.

Clearly a number of them were jack-booted thugs trampling on some rights or we would not be talking about the returning of illegally confiscated guns would we?

No one said all cops are bad, but you can't candy coat this and say that all cops during the disaster were good either.

The whole thing was a mess, with plenty of stories of both good and bad.

The important thing is to remember all of this at the next election cycle.

All the bashing of NRA for "doing nothing" wouldn't be necessary if the voters had not voted these incompetents into office in the first place.

Many people get so worked up on the NRA hate that they forget that someone elected these idiots. And, since we do for the most part run cities, states, etc based on the "will of the people" it's a bit hard for the NRA to overturn that.

All the calls that "NRA should have pushed for convictions"... get a clue.

NRA is not the District Attorney. If the DA doesn't wish to file criminal charges on Nagin, there isn't a heck of a lot the NRA can do about it. And civilly, if the mayor offered to admit guilt and return the guns and NRA had turned that down in favor of monetary settlements that would look real bad in front of a jury and the press.

New Orleans elected the Nagin moron by a large margin. The citizens there wanted him. Well, they got him. NRA has gotten him to admit he's a liar and a criminal. If the people of New Orleans re-elect him, they deserve whatever happens.

NRA took the High Road, which is more than a lot of the posters in this thread have done so far.

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Explain what the NRA did in Georgia wrt conceiled carry.

If what happened in Georgia somehow supports your thesis, then why don't you explain it to me instead of asking cryptic questions that imply something without offering any facts in support?

I couldn't tell you what happened since I am not from Georgia. However, I can say that here in Texas we don't rely on the NRA to fight our battles for us at the state level. We have the TSRA, which I support in addition to the NRA, and they have been quite successful.

The NRA is a national organization and I think that is where their focus should be. The NRA will never be able to do as good a job locally as a dedicated grass roots effort can and indeed one of the primary complaints from people working at the grassroots level is that the NRA is often a little tone deaf when it does assist at the state level.

 

[carebear]

Beat me to it Bart.

The same libertarian minded folk who don't want any national governmental organization affecting their rights on a state level wants a national non-governmental organization to do the heavy lifting for them at that same state level.

Bootstraps, people.

For the record, they're the best defense against jackboots also.

 

[Robert Hairless]

Robert Hairless Thanks for the link to "The Destructors". I saved it in My Documents. Will read it later. Wasn't aware that Greene wrote it. My son is a great admirer of Greene. Will e-mail it to him.

My pleasure, Jondar.

 

[Autolycus]

Originally posted by Powederman:

And, I think we have a new record....

Gratuitous cop bashing by the third post in an unrelated thread!

Strange how many folks are so quick to bash cops in NO--but conviently forget the hundreds--if not thousands--of police officers who came from all over the country ON THEIR OWN DIME to work--sometimes without compensation--to attempt to save lives and afterward recover the dead.

I personally know cops who live in NO, who lost everything they owned. I say again--EVERYTHING THEY OWNED. They put on what they could, uniform or not and went to work. One guy I know lived out of his patrol car for a MONTH. He had NOTHING else--only one or two changes of clothes.

But I'm sure that someone else will say, "pooh-pooh, they're still jack-booted thugs, trampling on our rights!" Horse manure.

And now, it's back to my corner. Raw turnips and undercooked broccoli to those who bash indiscriminately like this.

(By the way, if you haven't eaten this combination--don't. There will be hideous gastrointestinal distress. )

I personally know cops who violated peoples rights. They looted everything they could under the guise of Government Authority. They used their uniforms to take peoples firearms, their ammo, their food, their transportation, and their personal property.

But I am sure someone will say "LIES! LIES! They are heroes who risked life and limb to help everyone. They are heroes because anyone who wears a badge can do no wrong. We must ignore the trampling of our civil rights, the disarmaments of Americans, the forced evacuations, the abuse of government power, and we must not ever doubt our governments intentions and motives."

SARCASM OFF!

 

[Husker1911]

SwampSniper's question hasn't been addressed:

"The thing that concerns me is that the "just following orders" mindset seems prevalent in law enforcement, just as it was in the German army 65 years ago. Some cops will trash and ignore the oath they took, just for a job and a pension.
To the LEOs here, how many of you would confiscate legally held firearms if you boss ordered it? What percentage of your fellow officers do you think would do so?
No one wants to trash anyone, but, come on, can't you see how trust has been eroded?"

I greatly respect several ordinary-Joe cops I know. Great guys, I'd trust my life in their hands. They wouldn't confiscate my firearms in time of great need. Would you?

 

[Zen21Tao]

What kind of outcome would you consider acceptable here? Public hanging of Ray Nagin?

Y E S !!!!

 

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I personally know cops who violated peoples rights. They looted everything they could under the guise of Government Authority. They used their uniforms to take peoples firearms, their ammo, their food, their transportation, and their personal property.

I hope you reported these people to the proper authorities so that an investigation can be made and charges be brought.

In any case, I think the point of the poster was not that police officers didn't do bad things here; but that most of the good ones who worked under really demanding and difficult conditions were being forgotten in the uproar.

The vast majority of police officers I know understand self-defense and RKBA better than most. When Kennedy proposed his ammo ban, several police organizations wrote letters opposing it. That is the kind of cover politicians love to have when voting against stuff with a name like "Ban on evil baby-killing ammo that pierces police body armor." These men should be our natural allies and as our natural allies can help us a great deal (particularly when it comes to tracking down the evidence to slap down bureaucrats like Chief Compass and Nagin). Of course all this assumes we don't let the opposition polarize us into two separate groups by broadly stereotyping vast groups of people as either jackbooted thugs or lunatic fringe milita types. There is certainly some truth to the proposition that there are both lunatic militia types and jackbooted thugs amongst both groups; but I don't believe that either stereotype represents even a tenth of the larger group of cops and citizen gun owners.

 

[R-Tex12]

Well said, Bartholomew R!

 

[svtruth]

I liked

the part about just filing an affidavit in lieu of serial numbers. I think affidavit is lawyer talk for shopping list.

 

[foghornl]

I would like to see {soon-to-be-[we hope]-FORMER} Mayor Ray Nagin PERSONALLY have to return each and every stolen firearm to the rightful owner, along with a large chunk of his PERSONAL CASH.

Before he begins his 10-year or so State Sponsored Cross-Bar Hotel stay.

Anyone actually performing the theft should have an adjoining room in said hotel for an equivalent length stay.

Anyone wonder why several state legislatures are considering "No Firearms Confiscations in Emergency Situations" laws? ? ?

On the affidavit issue, I have most of the orginal boxes that my 'shootin' irons' were packed in. Those that don't have serial numbers recorded in 3 other places.

 

[eastwood44mag]

Hopefully NO residents don't mind having police engraving all over their property, as I expect will have happened.

 

[ArmedAmerican]

NEW ORLEANS (March 21) - New Orleans is better prepared for the upcoming hurricane season because of stronger flood walls and better evacuation plans after Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Ray Nagin said in an interview Tuesday.

"We should be able to sustain another Katrina," the mayor said.

"If a Category 5 hits us, probably the city will be gone and the levees will still be standing. The work they're doing is just incredible," Nagin said of ongoing work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

------------------------------------------

Say what?

-------------------------------------
"Nagin predicted residents would be more likely to comply with evacuation orders now.
Nagin is up for re-election April 22 and facing a slate of two dozen candidates."

-----------------------------------------

Funny? Sure, but it will be even funnier if Nagin is re-elected...

 

[ArmedAmerican]

NEW ORLEANS (March 21) - New Orleans is better prepared for the upcoming hurricane season because of stronger flood walls and better evacuation plans after Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Ray Nagin said in an interview Tuesday.

"We should be able to sustain another Katrina," the mayor said.

"If a Category 5 hits us, probably the city will be gone and the levees will still be standing. The work they're doing is just incredible," Nagin said of ongoing work by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

------------------------------------------

Say what?

-------------------------------------
"Nagin predicted residents would be more likely to comply with evacuation orders now.
Nagin is up for re-election April 22 and facing a slate of two dozen candidates."

-----------------------------------------

Funny? Sure, but it will be even funnier if Nagin is re-elected...

 

[Autolycus]

Bartholomew Roberts...

I hope you reported these people to the proper authorities so that an investigation can be made and charges be brought.

In any case, I think the point of the poster was not that police officers didn't do bad things here; but that most of the good ones who worked under really demanding and difficult conditions were being forgotten in the uproar.

The vast majority of police officers I know understand self-defense and RKBA better than most. When Kennedy proposed his ammo ban, several police organizations wrote letters opposing it. That is the kind of cover politicians love to have when voting against stuff with a name like "Ban on evil baby-killing ammo that pierces police body armor." These men should be our natural allies and as our natural allies can help us a great deal (particularly when it comes to tracking down the evidence to slap down bureaucrats like Chief Compass and Nagin). Of course all this assumes we don't let the opposition polarize us into two separate groups by broadly stereotyping vast groups of people as either jackbooted thugs or lunatic fringe milita types. There is certainly some truth to the proposition that there are both lunatic militia types and jackbooted thugs amongst both groups; but I don't believe that either stereotype represents even a tenth of the larger group of cops and citizen gun owners.

I forgot to add my SARCASM DISCLAIMER. My mistake.

 

[Master Blaster]

Please be patient as records are incomplete, and the police are currently understaffed. Records are most accessible if you can supply your gun's serial number. Claims can be made based on proof of ownership, or, lacking such documents, an affidavit that the item belongs to you.

How about if the poooolice pull their thumb out of their Tush, and get out the reports that went with those guns they confiscated, look up the name and address of the owner (you know the person they threw to the ground in handcuffs, and whose name they wrote on the report they filed) and then go out the that owners place of residence and RETURN the guns to them without being called and asked. Along with the gun will be a letter of appology signed by Willy Wonka himself. If the guns are damaqed and the owner is unhappy they give the owner a check for replacement of the damaged firearm??????


That would be a reasonable settlement.

But of course Since the Police dont protect or serve citizens, they are the vengeful arm of the state, it wont happen.

 

[AaronE]

[What kind of outcome would you consider acceptable here? Public hanging of Ray Nagin?]

that would be a GREAT start...held in the RAy Nagin Memorial Motor Pool for the public to watch.