New Orleans Gun Confiscation - Katrina

[Bucksnort1]

While engaged in a texting conversation with an acquaintance in the New Orleans area, I asked him if all the guns confiscated during hurricane Katrina were returned. This turned out to be a very, very hot button for him.

But it made me think. By way of texts, I know a retired highway patrol captain. Thinking about N.O. confiscations, I asked if while he was on police active duty and was ordered to go door to door to confiscate firearms, would he do it.

Never got a reply.

Are there any member officers who would / would not do this?

Also, what about New Orleans officers and their personal guns? Did they turn them in?

[Tom Servo]

No, they weren't. It took two years and a lawsuit from the NRA to even get a system set up to return them. It turned out that most of the guns had been carelessly thrown into Conex containers at the time, and many were rusted out beyond repair. Many of the confiscated firearms couldn't be located because they hadn't been cataloged in any way.

The state later passed a law prohibiting such seizures.

[Aguila Blanca]

Plus, if I remember correctly, the cops were requiring anyone trying to reclaim a firearm to provide proof of ownership. I have the receipts for most of my firearms, but I'm sure there are some for which I don't. One that does NOT have any paperwork is my grandfather's .22 rifle -- the one he used when teaching me to shoot as a child. Losing that would not be a huge financial hit, but it's one of only a few things I have that were his so the sentimental loss would be incalculable.

[44 AMP]

What was done, was done SO BADLY and upset so many people, that the state of Louisiana PASSED LAWS to PREVENT it ever happening again.

Seized guns, like most seized property is generally not well cared for. Even big ticket items that get sold at auction like cars, boats, etc. usually don't get the best of care, or even decent treatment. They aren't the property of anyone, anymore, at best they are evidence, and at worst, contraband.

And its not just neglect. It's common (or at least it was) for the cops to actually deface your property being held as evidence. And by deface, I mean adding a marking of some kind, scratched or even electro-penciled on so its permanent, to "identify" the item.

I grew up watching Perry Mason, (among other things) and one of the staples of every trial was the prosecutor handing a gun to the cop on the stand, asking if this was the gun he recovered from the murder scene...
Answer was always the same, cop looks at gun for a moment, then answers, Yes sir, it is, there's my mark, right there. (and points to a spot on the gun)

Remember that seized property is no longer your property. It now belongs to the state, and will belong to the state until ALL the legal processes are completed. And the state is under no obligation to do more than preserve that evidence's existance and provide a valid chain of custody to the court.

After the law is ENTIRELY done with it, you MAY get it back. You may have to ask, you may have to jump through some hoops, you may even have to go to court and get a court order to have your property returned. And, sometimes, even then, it never is returned. Some place will simply not return a firearm, ever, despite the law, or a court order.

Their usual tactic is to have the gun destroyed (or claim it was) and cut the former owner a check for what they determine it's value was.

as to this,

Are there any member officers who would / would not do this?

Are you seriously expecting a reply in written, text, online, or any searchable or hackable media?? Today, anything you say ANYWHERE it can be found, can be used against you in the Twitter Court of public opinion, and possibly in a court of law as well.

With cops getting fired for expressing their personal opinions on some social media, I doubt any one worth taking seriously will commit themselves in a public forum. And if some do, do you think you can trust their answers to be their honest feelings??

I wouldn't.

[Lima Oscar 7]

I wonder how many of those confiscated firearms were stolen by those doing the confiscation? I say a lot more than you might think.

Did the order for confiscation come from Governor Blanco or did it come Down from President George W. Bush or both?

This was a wake up call. Want to disarm rural people? Send in Nat Guard from urban areas where the Second Amendment is no so highly regarded. Take personality and personal convictions out of the equation.

Another wake up call was to be prepared to withstand disasters so you’re not beholden to the authorities.

I still cannot get the picture out of my mind of those thugs tacking that elderly white haired lady over her ancient .32 revolver. They needed to be indicted, prosecuted and imprisoned.

[mr bolo]

Im sure most LE would gladly confiscate your firearms if ordered to do it

they already take them during routine traffic stops all the time because they can

even if it's not illegal , they can say it's nuisance and take your firearms / magazines.

[dahermit]

Did the order for confiscation come from Governor Blanco or did it come Down from President George W. Bush or both?

It was mayor Ray Nagin that ordered the confiscation of guns.
https://www.nraila.org/articles/2014...federal-prison

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Originally Posted by mr bolo

Im sure most LE would gladly confiscate your firearms if ordered to do it

they already take them during routine traffic stops all the time because they can

even if it's not illegal , they can say it's nuisance and take your firearms / magazines.

Where are you getting this info? Police would gladly take your firearms and do take them from legal owners? I have never heard of this or know anyone in my state that has. And police do NOT pull over any one group of people more than others.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Carl the Floor Walker

Where are you getting this info? Police would gladly take your firearms and do take them from legal owners? I have never heard of this or know anyone in my state that has.

Quite obviously, this did happen in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. It has probably happened, on a smaller scale, elsewhere. Katrina was in 2005. In 2006, The Bush administration enacted a federal law making it illegal for either state of federal government agents to violate state or federal law. The state of Louisiana enacted a new law making such confiscations illegal. Some other states have also enacted similar laws.

During the Katrina confiscation, it wasn't just New Orleans police officers who participated. It was also the National Guard (units from other states) and police officers from other states. Officers of the California Highway Patrol were reported to be among the most heavy-handed in their zeal to confiscate lawfully-possessed firearms.

The fact that you don't personally know anyone to whom this has happened doesn't mean it hasn't happened. There's an old saying that covers this: "The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence."

Originally Posted by Carl the Floor Walker

And police do NOT pull over any one group of people more than others.

Actually, they do. Just Google "driving while black."

And officers routinely take custody of lawfully-carried firearms during traffic stops, in the name of "officer safety." In Pennsylvania, the police routinely run all serial numbers in such situations against a known-to-be-incomplete database and, if they don't come up with a match, they confiscate the firearm -- despite any number of reasons why a lawfully-owned firearm might not be in the database.

[Carl the Floor Walker]

I am not going argue with what happened in New Orleans or the Police corruption down there. (One of the last places I would ever go to begin with)
. But I will not agree with you in any shape or form that police pull over blacks more than whites. Maybe you said this tongue in cheek. But for sure not the truth across the board. In fact, I would say quite the opposite.
And rather disagree here. How about we just let these two argue it out. I am on the side of Sheriff David Clark, sounds like you might be on the side of Don Lemon.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRen...ab_channel=CNN

[TruthTellers]

I firmly believe that police will do whatever they're ordered to do because they will not do anything to put their retirement pension and benefits in jeopardy. They pretty much have a free pass to do anything to anyone (so long as they're not Black), so to think that there would be anything but praise and reward for confiscating guns is foolish.

You won't get a response if you ask any of them the confiscation question because if they say no, they're liable to be fired, doxxed, you name it and if they say yes it just confirms what we already know the answer is.

This is gonna shock some, but the boys and girls with badges aren't your friends.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Carl the Floor Walker

But I will not agree with you in any shape or form that police pull over blacks more than whites. Maybe you said this tongue in cheek. But for sure not the truth across the board. In fact, I would say quite the opposite.

I don't make a practice of joking in regard to violations of civil rights.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/21/us/po...rnd/index.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...g-while-black/

We found that, compared to their share in the population, blacks are almost twice as likely to be pulled over as whites — even though whites drive more on average, by the way. We also discovered that blacks are more likely to be searched following a stop. Just by getting in a car, a black driver has about twice the odds of being pulled over, and about four times the odds of being searched. Hispanic drivers, overall, are no more likely than whites to be pulled over, but much more likely to be searched.

https://www.researchgate.net/publica...ational_Survey

The findings show that young black and Hispanic males are at increased risk for citations, searches, arrests, and uses of force after other extralegal and legal characteristics are controlled.

[Carl the Floor Walker]

And Sir, I do not make it a practice to joke about Civil liberties as well. However I also do not take crime as a Joke. Nor De-funding the police or attacks on Police or torching Police Cars or the destruction of Billions of dollars across our Country as a Joke.
Every one of the links you posted conveniently did not report the crime stopped for. Or the conviction.
[/B]
I support the police. And since you posted some links, how about some on links on who actually does the most violent crimes?
Even school referrals are given out 7-1 and that is across the nation. And please do not say Teachers are racist. Most all liberals and even to the extent that the CRT crap has invaded our Public Schools.

Thank you for your opinion. I will kindly disagree and strongly take the side of Sheriff David Clark from my original post and not Don Lemon of CNN.

PS I can very well understand these days why Police officers are hesitant to even answer a Call. If I were a cop I would not in some areas. They are damned if the do and damned if they don't. Do not want to get pulled over? Don't break the LAW!

[reubenray]

I lived in Metairie when Katrina hit. When I first got back a Jefferson Parish Sheriff officer stopped by and said if I don't have a gun get one. It is surprising how the rules change for just a few miles of difference.

[Lima Oscar 7]

When I worked in NOLA and S Louisiana, Harry Lee was the Sheriff of Jefferson Parish. They’re used to be a gun store in a yellow building in Jefferson Parrish. It was amazing how inexpensive Makarovs ($99.00 - $150.00) were. The same held true for SKS rifles and AKM’s. Sgt. T. Ben Boudreaux had his show on AM 690 WTIX and you could make groceries at Supardo’s Market —— you didn’t need no Kroger’s or Wal-Mart. Sheriff Harry Lee at the time in the early 1990’s was extremely Pro Second Amendment.

[Aguila Blanca]

Originally Posted by Carl the Floor Walker

Every one of the links you posted conveniently did not report the crime stopped for. Or the conviction

You're moving the goalposts.

Most traffic stops are for motor vehicle violations. Motor vehicle violations are civil infractions, not "crimes." You made a pretty definite statement that you don't believe police "pull over" blacks at a disproportionate rate. I cited multiple, large studies that show they do. Changing the parameters to now relate only to criminal arrests is a complete shift in the topic of discussion.

Originally Posted by Carl the Floor Walker

But I will not agree with you in any shape or form that police pull over blacks more than whites.

[Mainah]

But I will not agree with you in any shape or form that police pull over blacks more than whites.

I had a buddy who was black and also active in local GOP politics, he was regularly on television and quoted in articles. He got pulled over all the time, drove him nuts.

We used to joke about starting a shoplifting ring. We figured I could steal a ton of stuff while he was being followed around in the store.

[Carl the Floor Walker]

Originally Posted by Aguila Blanca

Plus, if I remember correctly, the cops were requiring anyone trying to reclaim a firearm to provide proof of ownership. I have the receipts for most of my firearms, but I'm sure there are some for which I don't. One that does NOT have any paperwork is my grandfather's .22 rifle -- the one he used when teaching me to shoot as a child. Losing that would not be a huge financial hit, but it's one of only a few things I have that were his so the sentimental loss would be incalculable.

Fair enough. Sure they get pulled over more. Do the infraction and you will get pulled over. I agree with you. But I say bunk to the nonsense they are being pulled over for "Driving while Black nonsense"
Recently saw this same dribble from CNN when they were condemning the police in the small country town of Winsor Va. Right away CNN started their same CRAP they pulled the driver over because he was black.
Well, I laughed at this nonsense. I drive that same road all the time when I go hunting and at night. Know the road very well. So on a Sunday, I went to Krispy Creame Doughnuts and headed for the Small police station out of town to find the truth.

Lie) he could not have pulled over sooner.-
Truth- My God, there were plenty of places very well lighted up. To include a Bank with flood lights etc. as well as two other commercial places with flood light.

Lie- He was black and that is why they pulled him over.
Truth- He was driving a SUV with blackened out windows and the cops could NOT see who was Driving or who else was in the Car. Total lying crap by CNN.
Lie-He did not have a gun.
Truth- He was asked about a dozen times to show his hands. He refused to comply
Truth- He in fact DID HAVE a LOADED WEAPON. A SIG 320 LOADED WITH 18 ROUNDS
LIE- His was scared was the reason CNN said he did not get out of the CAR.
Truth-He and purchased a in vehicle Camara which showed him clearly very calm and waiting for the police.
Truth-This was a set up. Turns out this piece of Garbage was pulled over and given a ticket the week before in the small town, He wanted revenge. -His License plate could not be read and when Police tried to call in the number, it did not exist at all. The had no idea who was in the car. This particular road is know for heavy drug trafficking.

This jerk is so typical and CNN so typical of condemning police. In fact, one policeman was fired because of the Sickening NAACP had one of the officers, career Veteran Military and a Policer Officer and loved by the residents. They also tried to fire the Police Cheif. I spent the rest of the day talking to many business's and residents. They whole downheartedly supported the Police and damned the false lies by CNN.
The small DEPT. was flooded with calls of Support for the Police. The whole town loves them.

I could go on with much more, but have to get to work. Just say that CNN and so much information in your links is NOT provided. But again, I do agree with you, they get pulled over disproportionately. But Not for the fact they are innocent.
any more than that jerk was innocent.
Again, do not want to get pulled over. Do not do the infraction.

[ATN082268]

Just because a particular race, gender, etc gets pulled over more doesn't automatically mean discrimination. It may be discrimination but for that to be true of a group, all races, genders, etc would have to behave the same, among other things. It's an absurd assumption but a lot of people make it.

[Geezerbiker]

There's a small town in western Oregon that for many is a drive though town and the cops tend to target people driving older vehicles late at night and especially on Friday night and weekends. Fridays have always been a good day for me to go shopping in the city and I'd often get home late. I'd get pulled over there at least once a month or whenever they got a new officer on the late shift. Fortunately the state finally made a bypass expressway and I don't have the problem again.

I used to refer to it as driving while old. For some reason they though all old guys out late were hammered...

Tony

[Tom Servo]

I'm afraid we've drifted off course at this point. The initial question was answered as much as it can be. If anyone has anything to add, feel free to message the staff with the relevant information.