Confiscated Firearms to be Returned?

[grilledcheese]

Thought this was newsworthy (apologies if already posted)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081008/ap_on_re_us/katrina_confiscated_guns



Jeffrey

 

[mgkdrgn]

And it only took how many years?

Anybody want to venture a guess at the condition of the "stored" guns? (Stored, as in tossed together in a box.)

Want to start a poll about what minuscule fraction of those taken will actually be returned?

 

[3KillerBs]

We don't have to guess. There was an article in America's First Freedom about it several months ago.

Many of them are probably non-functional and irreparable.

 

[Colt46]

What kind of redress for 'missing' guns?

It astounds me how this took so long to return illegally seized property and it was the NRA that had to make it happen. Where the hell was the US attorney General?

 

[grilledcheese]

These two paragraphs explain a great deal:

In their lawsuit, the gun lobbying groups accused the city of violating gun owners' constitutional right to bear arms and leaving them "at the mercy of roving gangs, home invaders, and other criminals" after Katrina.

In response, the city argued that federal law doesn't apply to the plaintiffs' claims against city officials "because the right to keep and bear arms has never been recognized as a fundamental individual right."


Methinks the Supreme Court's recent decision may have played a part in this settlement...


Jeffrey

 

[BobOfTheFuture]

drop the case if they are returned in who knows what condition... sounds like a cop-out by the NRA

 

[Mike J]

I think the NRA may have decided this was the best they could do for some reason but it just doesn't seem like enough to me.

 

[Schmidlin]

next are they going to file suit against the dirty cops who took the guns? or is NO going to pay for guns they cant find, because of the dirty cops that took them?

 

[CZ-100]

Their need to be people going to jail over this, not just the firearms being returned, in who who's what condition.

 

[.38 Special]

Just to play devil's advocate, "Police have said that most of the confiscated firearms had been stolen or found in abandoned homes..."

Obviously this may or may not be true, but if it is, how many actually support the return of stolen guns to the people who stole them?

Moreover, a return program was already in place; it just required that you prove ownership. This proved understandably difficult for folks who had lost everything in the flooding, but by the same token, you can't just give a gun to every fellow who walks in saying "Um, yeah, it was a Glock. Black. 9mm. Yup, that one looks like it!"

 

[Old Grump]

Problem is they have only been able to find about a hundred of the 1200 gun owners and those who lost everything in the flood and can't provide the paperwork proving they owned the guns that were taken are flat out of luck. Nagin wins, we lose.

 

[ridata]

Old Grump:

Problem is they have only been able to find about a hundred of the 1200 gun owners and those who lost everything in the flood and can't provide the paperwork proving they owned the guns that were taken are flat out of luck. Nagin wins, we lose.

Gun owners must sign an affidavit claiming ownership of a gun but don't need to present written proof, such as a sales receipt or serial number.

That was part of the agreement, and the difference between how it is now and how it was before. Before people could collect the guns if they provided proof of ownership, under the settlement they don't have to.

 

[the foot]

What do you expect? New Orleans is a left wing controlled welfare state. What would you expect to come from those people? Any weapons they return will be in bad shape, if returned at all.

 

[Gunnerpalace]

NRA should have pushed harder, they have not impressed me, how do I go about voting membership? if I am going to gripe I should try to fix this.

 

[Steve Raacke]

NRA should have pushed harder, they have not impressed me,

It's the NRA for Zeus' sake. They are famous for compromising. Push harder? Not the NRA. They didn't impress me either. That's why I let my membership run out years ago and toss anything I get from them now into the trash without opening.

 

[rklessdriver]

They found weapons in "ABANDON HOMES" because they forced people to leave (abandon their homes).

Those folks who tried to take their weapons with them had them seized from their cars as they left.

So I guess they were actually "STOLEN". By the NO PD.
Will

 

[hdrk1955]

I'll bet they are going to make it real easy for the gun owners to get their property back:banghead::banghead:

 

[ZeSpectre]

I love the comment about "abandoned" homes. A house that has been evacuated (temporarily due to an emergency) is NOT an "abandoned" house and it's still TRESPASSING for folks to enter uninvited or without a warrant.

 

[macadore]

Since we have had to register firearms since 1968, why can’t someone find out who the legal owners are and return the firearms to them?

 

[Officers'Wife]

It would appear official thievery is acceptable behavior in the war on crime. At least NO's organized crime bosses are elected.

Selena

 

[Gunnerpalace]

Since we have had to register firearms since 1968

But FOPA 1986 forbids that.

 

[macadore]

But FOPA 1986 forbids that.

Thanks, I didn’t realize that.

 

[rr2241tx]

Quote:
Since we have had to register firearms since 1968

But FOPA 1986 forbids that.

Maybe you'd want to discuss both of those issues with Glock owners in Oklahoma? The police illegally jackbooted regional Glock dealers into coughing up the registered owners' names and addresses then sent them all a notice to bring their guns in for elimination in a murder case. About half of the purchasers did, even though the whole affair was clearly illegal. The half that didn't show up voluntarily got a hostile invitation from their local LEO, using their failure to show up as "probable cause".

The long and short of it is that if you ever lose possession of a firearm, it is gone and you're not getting it back. If it is stolen, you better pray whoever ends up with it doesn't commit a crime with it and if you turn it over to the police you might as well call in an insurance claim. It probably isn't written policy anywhere, but by the time it might be released from evidence it won't be fit to hold up a tomato plant.

What the NOPD did was dead wrong and every one of the officers who confiscated a firearm should be seeing the world through iron slats for the rest of all time. On the other hand, anyone too _________ (insert perjorative term here) to realize that living BELOW sea level and in the direct path of a major hurricane wasn't justification enough for packing up all their valuables and getting to higher ground in a big hurry has far bigger problems than the loss of their guns.

And, by the way, Texas doesn't need any more New Orleans refugees, we've still got the last two evacuations worth. Those folks are a bad influence on our homegrown criminals.

 

[Gunnerpalace]

You didn't sense my sarcasm? Let me see if I can fix the smiley.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

The NRA didn't do enough? Perhaps, but did anyone else do anything at all?