NOPD Demanding Gun Receipts

[Guntalk]

I'm getting reports that the New Orleans Police Department is, once again, demanding that motorists show proof of ownership of firearms.

In Louisiana, you are legal to have a loaded firearm in your car. In a traffic stop, the officer asks if there are any firearms in the car. When the driver says yes, the officer asks the driver to show proof of ownership of the gun.

Lacking that, the officer takes the gun, and tells the driver he/she can get the gun back when he/she brings proof of ownership to the police station.

1. Is anyone else hearing of this?

2. What would be considered the proper response?

(I'd be tempted to ask the officer if he has the receipt for his watch, and if not, I'll have to hold it for him until he can supply it. Of course, I know better.)

 

[WNTFW]

Where at in LA are you and how accurate do you think the info is?

I'm in LA also. Check out Bayoushooter.com for more local info.

 

[Guntalk]

I'm in Natchitoches, and I think the info is 100 percent reliable.

 

[WNTFW]

I'm right across the river from NO. I tend not to go there. Generally just no reason to. Never have any problems when I do. NOPD has some bad eggs & good ones to. I have heard some similar stories. Also have heard from a lot of people that never have a problem.

 

[Jimmy Dean]

Even from BS.com, we have been getting reports along these lines for some time. But those of us from LA also know that the NOPD, its chief, and that pos mayor all operate via their own set of laws that are in direct violation to state law.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Tom, I assume you're gonna call the NRA and SAF first thing in the morning?

This is just sickening. Let us know what we can do.

 

[Guntalk]

Ah, given the timing, I should point out that this has nothing to do with hurricanes or evacuations. This is just run-of-the-mill NOPD stuff.

In my view, it's basically felony theft under color of law. People are having to go to the gun stores where they bought the gun, and somehow get a piece of paper saying they own the gun.

Imagine if you have a gun you traded for, or bought 30 years and six moves ago.

 

[gbran]

I live in a state (CA) that has handgun registration and I don't even keep proof of ownership. This is crazy.

 

[Old School]

get it from the horses mouth

I think before I got upset, called the NRA or anything else, I would just make a simple phone call to the chief of police and the mayors office and ask them if this is official policy or a local law.

 

[Guntalk]

Old School . . . they will tell you it is not official policy. Now, you just have to deal with the armed man demanding that you give him your gun or be arrested.

 

[WNTFW]

Old School,
That is correct to a degree. I don't know what the truth is. I have heard of some other incidents involving open carry where the facts were not presented accurately.
Problem is rank will cover their 6 no matter what & official policy & reality may be 2 different things. I have called to report an officers action & saw how that got handled. The Sgt lied about having no units numbered in the range I reported. I saw 1 numbered very close the next day. No mistaken the graphics package on the unit either.
There is also the possibility that 1 incident gets reported multiple times making 1 action a dozen. Still doesn't absolve the 1 wrong action though.
I have also questions several politician about Martial Law being declared in LA & they don't know what the law is. This was after them bringing up the subject of Martial Law.

I also wonder if having a receipt will be enough. I do know 1 guy that keeps the receipt in his vehicle. I do have a few guns with no real proof of ownership.

 

[Loomis]

How does a receipt prove ownership? My receipts don't say anything about WHO bought the gun.

 

[Old School]

I personally, would not waste my time chasing receipts. I would go to town hall and ask for something in writing that says there is no law on the books and keep that with me. If they resist, bring a petition from like minded gun owners. Let the officer explain his actions while you are holding that piece of paper!

 

[blackcash88]

Wow, I didn't know the great Tom Gresham was a member here! Love the show!

 

[zxcvbob]

It's armed robbery is what it is...

except if you resist suddenly you're the bad guy. If they take your gun, you will never get it back. If it's a nice one, they'll keep it for themselves. If it's a POS, they'll throw it in the river out of spite. If it's in between, they'll probably sell it on the street.

It's too bad the LA state police or the FBI or BATF doesn't set up a sting operation and catch some of the bad cops in the act. I suspect they don't care, but maybe the real reason is that while it happens all too often the chances of actually being stopped and shaken-down are quite low at any given time.

That's why you always just tell NOPD (or CPD) "No" if they ask you if you have any guns. Too many of them are just petty thieves. (unlike Chicago where the PD is organized crime.) Anywhere else I'd recommend telling the truth, but not in those two places.

 

[Igloodude]

I personally, would not waste my time chasing receipts. I would go to town hall and ask for something in writing that says there is no law on the books and keep that with me. If they resist, bring a petition from like minded gun owners. Let the officer explain his actions while you are holding that piece of paper!

Likewise, about the town hall part. But I'd also get copies of receipts for all my store-bought guns, create receipts for trades/private party transactions (and any where I couldn't get the actual receipt), and very likely put a hidden videocamera in my car so as to record every police stop of my vehicle, if I lived somewhere where police corruption/cluelessness was so common.

 

[JWarren]

Glenn,

This is nothing new for NOPD. That exact thing happened to me in 1995 in NO.

They gave me a receipt for the Colt Peacekeeper .357 which was a birthday gift from my father. Oddly enough, when I went to claim my Colt, they could not locate it in the lock room. I never saw it again.


This was from a traffic stop where no charges or citations remained.


-- John

 

[Beren]

That's an outrage. They don't ask you to "prove" ownership of your clothes or car, do they? The burden should rest with them to "prove" you don't own the firearm. If this happens to you, please write down the officer's information, time and location where it happened, contact the NRA, and contact a lawyer. Here's hoping one of their robbery victims sues them.

It doesn't sound like this crap will stop until they lose a lawsuit and get hit for negative publicity and punitive damages.

 

[Noxx]

That's an outrage. They don't ask you to "prove" ownership of your clothes or car, do they

Well, just for DA sake, they do ask you for your vehicle registration, which includes the owners info.

But the analogy is correct, if you have something else expensive in your car they don't ask you prove you own it, then essentially steal it from you at gunpoint. Your wedding ring cost more than your carry gun, got a receipt for it?

It's just nothing but armed robbery. These incidents need to be documented as well as possible, collected, and presented en masse in order to get something done.

 

[yokel]

It's armed robbery is what it is...


except if you resist suddenly you're the bad guy.

Actively resisting and rejecting the sovereignty of an illegitimate, tyrannical and corrupt occupying force is not wrong in my book.

 

[Jimmy Dean]

if I remember right, LA law does find the victim in the right in the case of resisting an unlawful arrest or illegal search and seizure.......that is if you live after arguing with the cops down there. :/

I like the LA laws regarding firearms, they can use a little bit more work, but OC no permit, no registration, shall issue state permit, parish permits need some work though but they do get around those pesky fire-arm free school zones, so overall not too bad. For the laws themselves, however, many (not all) of our LEOs on the local level either do not know, or simply ignore, what they laws allow and make up their own.

I have had no problems with state troopers, and very few problems with Sheriffs, only the local LEOs

 

[zxcvbob]

Actively resisting and rejecting the sovereignty of an illegitimate, tyrannical and corrupt occupying force is not wrong in my book.

Instead of going out in a "blaze of glory", just lie to 'em and be on your way. I assume that's what the older and wiser locals do.

 

[Guntalk]

Re: Resisting.

Bad idea. Really bad.

Especially bad in NOLA. Your gun is not worth getting killed over.

 

[lawson4]

If asked if you have any guns in the vehicle just say "I want my attorney present before answering any questions not related to the reason you stopped me. Am I free to go?"

scpapa

 

[10/22plinker]

I have a simple question about this matter cities like Chicago guns are illegal but is legal to drive through as long as either the guns are up front and the ammos in the trunk or the guns are in the trunk and the ammos in the front... what if you don't have a trunk...