Update On NRA’s Lawsuit Against The City Of New Orleans

This week, in a landmark victory for NRA and law-abiding gun owners, Judge Carl J. Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana denied the City of New Orleans’ motion to dismiss NRA’s lawsuit against the city.  Further, Judge Barbier held that the Second Amendment does apply to law-abiding residents in the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans.  Incredibly, the City of New Orleans persisted in desperately clinging to its anti-gun agenda by contemptuously arguing just the opposite--that the Second Amendment does not apply to residents in the State of Louisiana and the City of New Orleans.

NRA first filed suit after Hurricane Katrina, when firearms were confiscated from law-abiding New Orleans residents.  Former New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass issued orders to confiscate firearms from all citizens.  With that one order, the means of self-protection that innocent victims had during a time of widespread civil disorder was stripped away.

NRA filed suit in federal court and won a preliminary injunction ending these illegal gun confiscations.  After the City of New Orleans failed to comply with the court’s ruling and falsely claimed that the gun confiscations never occurred, NRA filed a motion for contempt that included an order directing all seized firearms be returned to their rightful owners.

After strenuously denying the illegal confiscations for months, on March 15, 2006, Mayor Nagin and the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) finally conceded in federal court that the seized firearms were stored in two trailers.  The city then agreed in court to a process by which law-abiding citizens would be able to file a claim to receive their confiscated firearms.  However, few firearms were returned because the NOPD never notified gun owners how to claim their guns, and turned many away citing impossible standards for proof of ownership.

Today’s ruling sets the stage for a continued legal fight in which NRA will be forced to expend additional resources to fight back the anti-gunner’s blatant and shameful attempts to ignore the Second Amendment.  The case will now move to discovery and pre-trial preparation.

Rest assured, we will keep you informed of future developments regarding this case.