GOA on New Orleans Gun Confiscation

The Gun Owners of America website has a collection of links relating to the gun confiscation in New Orleans. Of particular note is So What Is GOA Doing About All This?:

GOA is adamant that the gun confiscations in New Orleans are an outrage and the offending officials need to be held accountable.

As soon as we knew the score GOA began drafting legislation at the federal level. We began looking for a sponsor in Congress that same week. The language is designed as an amendment to any supplemental appropriations bill to be added in the appropriate place saying:

provided, however, that no funds appropriated pursuant to any provision of law may be used (1) to involuntarily force any person out of that person's home if the person is not in imminent danger, or (2) to disarm law-abiding citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights.

Interested gun owners should contact their Representatives and ask them to sponsor/cosponsor this legislation. We are knocking on doors on the Hill but welcome all the help we can get.

(In legislative sessions to come, we are looking to take similar action at the state level... if a state has a statute relating to emergency procedures, we want language inserted therein specifically prohibiting gun confiscation when those procedures are implemented.)

After combing through Louisiana law, we cannot find any authority for gun confiscation from law-abiding citizens by state officials including the declaration of martial law necessitated by a natural disaster. This utter disregard for state and federal law by state or federal officials acting on their behalf cannot be tolerated.

Many people have suggested that GOA go to the courts to get an injunction against the offending officials, but GOA does not have standing to bring suit in these instances. No guns owned by GOA employees were confiscated. The plaintiff in any such action would have to be a person whose rights were directly violated. It is known that there is a directly-affected Louisiana attorney who states he is bringing suit. We would certainly file an amicus brief in this case, and are prepared to spend money to advance it. We approve of court action and will make the appropriate response when any person with standing does bring suit.

Other than legislative and court action, the remaining avenue is information dissemination... the purpose of this web section. Please help publicize the situation.

We have been inundated with e-mail on this subject and we are thankful that there are so many people concerned. Our position and action plan:

Yes -- it is an outrage
Yes -- we are attempting to do something about it
Yes -- we are in front of the media in New Orleans and nationwide, doing radio interviews, issuing press releases and editorial opinions
Yes -- we have model legislation and are currently looking to introduce same
Yes -- we support court action; we will file a brief, but lack standing to file suit in the organization's name
Yes -- we are using e-mail and the web to inform members and others
Yes -- we think the confiscation of firearms from law-abiding citizens is illegal and unconstitutional, period

UPDATE: Click here to "rattle some cages" and further the cause. I did. Unfortunately, my representative doesn't actually represent me. He's too busy with other things, like sponsoring legislation advocating for official recognition of the 250th anniversary of Laredo, and co-sponsoring establishment and observation of a legal public holiday in honor of Cesar Chavez. Stuff like that.