New Orleans - Guns Listed, Then Confiscated... Then Returned?

gc70

New member
Times-Picaynue, Saturday, September 10, 2005, bottom of page A-9

Knee-deep in melted clocks, scribes paint Dali landscape

Pencil behind ear, and .38 on hip


By Chris Rose
Columnist

You hear the word "surreal" in every report from this city now. There is no better word for it.

If Salvador Dali showed up here, he wouldn't be able to make heads or tails of it. Nobody could paint this.

He did that famous painting of the melting clock, and our clocks melted at 6:45 the morning of Aug. 29. That's what the clocks in the French Quarter still say. That's when time stood still.

The Quarter survived all this; you've probably heard that much. Most of what remains unscathed - and I'm using a very relative term here - is a swath of dry land from the Riverbend through Audubon Park, down St. Charles and Tchoupitoulas to the Quarter and into the Bywater.

It's like a land mass the size of Bermuda, maybe, but with not so many golf courses.

There are other dry outposts in the great beyond - little Key Wests across the city - but I haven't seen them.

The weather is beautiful, I don't mind telling you. But if I wrote you a post card, it wouldn't say, "Wish You Were Here."

There are still hearty rose bushes blooming on front porches, and there are still birds singing in the park. But the park is a huge National Guard encampment.

There are men and women from other towns living there in tents and who have left their families to come help us and they are in the park clearing out the fallen timber. My fellow Americans.

Every damn one of them tells you they're happy to be here (despite what you've heard, it still beats the hell out of Fallujah), and every time I try to thank them, on behalf of all of us, I just lose it. I absolutely melt down.

There is nothing quite as ignominious as weeping in front of a soldier.

This is no environment for a wuss like me. We reporters go to other places to cover wars and disasters and pestilence and famine. There's no manual to tell you how to do this when it's your own city.

And I'm telling you: It's hard.

It's hard not to get crispy around the edges. It's hard not to cry. It's hard not to be very, very afraid.

My colleagues who are down here are warriors. There are a half-dozen of us living in a small house on a side street Uptown. Everyone else has been cleared out.

We have a generator and water and military food rations and Doritos and smokes and booze. After deadline, the call goes out: "Anyone for some warm brown liquor?" And we sit on the porch in the very, very still of the night and we try to laugh.

Some of these guys lost their houses - everything in them. But they're here, telling our city's story.

And they stink. We all stink. We stink together.

We have a bunch of guns, but it's not clear to me if anyone in this "news bureau" knows how to use them.

The California National Guard came by and wanted an accounting of every weapon in the building and they wrote the serial numbers down and apparently our guns are pretty rad because they were all cooing over the .38s.

I guess that's good to know.

The Guard wanted to know exactly what we had so they would be able to identify, apparently by sound, what guns were in whose hands if anything "went down" after dark here at this house.

That's not so good to know.

They took all our information and bid us a good day and then sauntered off to retrieve a dead guy on a front porch down the street.

Then the California Highway Patrol - the CHiPs! - came and demanded we turn over our weapons.

What are you going to do? We were certainly outnumbered, so we turned over the guns. Then, an hour later, they brought them back. With no explanation.


Whatev. So here we are. Just another day at the office.

Maybe you've seen that Times-Picayune advertising slogan before: "News, Sports and More."

More indeed. You're getting your money's worth today.
 
Since this is not evidence of a "gun sweep" Rich L will soon be locking this thread as well... just a prediction.

Rick
 
Yup, Rick-
LEO "apologist" that I am....just ask TBO, sendec, Frank Drebin or a host of others.

Nope, I'll not be locking it, unless it turns into another thread with people (perhaps you) thumping their chest and explaining, "This is what I've been saying for years. My cousin's girlfriend is a mechanic at the motor pool down there. She heard that the Mexican Army is being used as the front line for the confiscations. But this is just a test; once they know they can do it in NOLA, they'll be creating hurricanes all over the country....with ALL our troops in Iraq, we'd have no choice but to call in the UN. I've seen it coming for years, yup. But not me. From my cold dead fingers, I'd give up my gun....or was that my keyboard"

See, when it gets like that, I get bored. Then I lock threads. Keep this one factual; I'll keep it open. Fair enough?
Rich
 
That's not the reason you locked the other threads.

And what's the difference to you if someone posts that? It's been done before here. Why the microscope from you all of a sudden, Rich?

Rick
 
Rick-
I'm not real certain what the public query provides that an email wouldn't. Last I checked, I was charged with maintaining decorum and balance on this forum and nowhere did I see where I was under any obligation other than to do so with consistency...explanation has been provided ad nauseum to anyone willing to read.

Your's appears to be a more personal question. If you wish to ask personal questions or whisper in my ear and stuff like that, my email is available. I doubt the exchange will be any more satisfactory to you than what I have REPEATEDLY posted in public, though.
Rich
 
Off Topic.

Since this is not evidence of a "gun sweep" Rich L will soon be locking this thread as well... just a prediction.

Rick

Nope. He'll only lock it if geniuses like yourself continue to post off topic remarks rather than expound on the issue at hand.
Just another prediction.

In response to the post, it seems odd that the guns are being cataloged and returned, but that is a good thing. With any luck, things will continue in this vein rather that out and out confiscation.
There has been much talk about "forced evacuation" of the remainder of the hold-outs. I wonder if this is part of the first step.

In any case, perhaps it is a good sign that they are not resorting to complete confiscation in all areas of the city.....yet.

Can any of the LEO's here give us some perspective on the jurisdiction restraints that CHiPs face in NO?
 
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In response to the post, it seems odd that the guns are being cataloged and returned, but that is a good thing.


HOW, in the hell do you see that as a good thing. The guns should not have been seized, cataloged, and returned in the first place. Dont compromise rights, if you do, rights are no longer rights.
 
WildCard

Don't get me wrong. It is terrible that the situation is happening in the first place.
What I am saying is that it is good as opposed to what it could be, which is complete confiscation, leaving people defenseless. (we all know that the criminals will just be the first in line to turn theirs in :rolleyes: )

I hate the thought of compromising any right at all. Had it been me, I would most likely have thrown them a bone or two with the crappy guns (beater LEO trade 870, Charter Arms .38) and kept the good stuff under wraps.

It's a shame that it is happening at all, but it is better than confiscation or theft. That's what I was trying to get out there, sorry for the mix up. :o
 
It's sad that the moderators closed that other thread because they aren't talking about this stuff on FOX or CBS. There's a lot of stuff that happens in this world that isn't reported by the mainstream media, anyone who relies solely on those sources is missing a lot of news...
 
Moderators - please close this thread

I opened this thread because the news article was current and verifiable and from a reliable local source - not from the major national media. I posted the article only as a source of hard news and not to prompt the type of wild speculation that has plagued other reports about firearms and New Orleans.

It was late and I was tired or I would have had the presence of mind to ask the moderators to close the thread immediately.
 
GC-
I'm going to let it stay open, with your permission. It's an important and topical issue and, like others, I'm eager for more information to determine if it is in fact happening or was just another Wish List Decree by yet another NOLA "Official" that no one is listening to.

If this thread, too, devolves into TEOTWAWKI wild speculation and general LEO or National Guard bashing, especially on this date of 9/11, I'll close it.
Rich
 
The restraint that the CHIPS face is that they are under the laws of the State of Louisiana not California.
 
Mind you, part of this is sheer speculation, but here's my take on this. When LEO's from other jurisdictions are brought in during an emergency, they are quickly sworn in as special deputies or special officers, given a quick briefing (which doesn't include a class in that state's law), and sent out into chaos. Communications and co-ordination between officers is difficult and sometimes absent (not enough radios, radios on different frequencies, etc.), and they are left to operate, basically, on their own. I have several friends on NYPD that worked on 9/11, and they told me that outside LEO's saddled up with NYPD officers. The NYPD officers took the lead, with outside officers acting almost strictly as back-up. NYPD has enough officers to do this; right now, N.O. doesn't. My guess is that policy wasn't made clear to outside officers; some mid-level CHP supervisor made a decision to confiscate firearms, took them back to commanders (N.O. or CHP), who promptly ordered them returned.

Very few of you here have any real conception of what it's like to be in a disaster area. In 1979, Hurricane Frederick wiped out most of Mobile, AL. I was working for Uncle Sam at the time and volunteered to go TAD to FEMA in Mobile. We worked 16 hr. days, 7 days a week for a month. There is no possible way I could even begin to describe the conditions there, or the lack of communication, co-ordination, equipment, or even the necessities of life. We stayed in motels that were more or less intact, but with no power and no water, and sometimes bottled water and food didn't get delivered due to mix-ups, etc. "Baths" were rare and consisted of a "Navy shower" using bottled water. The stench of death and raw sewage had us on the verge of nausea 24/7. That lasted about a week before we got power back, and a little later, water. Gradually things got better, but the screwed up chain of command remained. Then there were the predators. Not the 4 legged variety; these came in the guise of contractors, scam artists, and price gougers. FEMA was ripped off for millions. The conditions in New Orleans right now are far worse. The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing and true organization is still a ways down the road. I do NOT applaud the seizure of firearms (if in truth, they are going door to door for that purpose, and in spite of the press, I remain skeptical of that), but I can easily see how mistakes are being made. The fact remains that the guns WERE returned, which says that there are at least some trying to run the show right and with common sense. The media is quick to latch onto any scrap of information they can get from the area, be it true or false. After all, the news show must go on. Given that, and the sheer chaos down there right now, I withhold judgment till it's said and done, even if the "facts" are coming from "reputable" organizations.
 
Gun grabbers, be a little cautious going about reaching for law abiding citizen's guns........Some are loaded and you are reaching for the business end which may be disasterous
if the owner has it gripped firmly in a certain manner. King George's Redcoats tried disarming the Founding Fathers and brought themselves big problems and the humiliation of defeat, as well as many meeting their MAKER.
 
CHiPs

The restraint that the CHIPS face is that they are under the laws of the State of Louisiana not California.

Okay. So they are enforcing Louisiana State/New Orleans Local laws, correct?

I am only interested because I know what a mess the cross-jurisdictional requirements can become in a situation like this.

Do their officers have any more individual discretion than usual? O
 
The restraint that the CHIPS face is that they are under the laws of the State of Louisiana not California.
This comment and the more in depth posting by Capt Charlie are pretty much in line with my first thoughts.

The cops from foreign states were probably given minimal briefings on what was protocol in their are of operation.

Perhaps each team should be under direct supervision or at least under radio contact supervision of a local PD representative
It could avoid some unnecessary unpleasantness in the future

Southerners in particular don't appreciate outsiders coming in and enforcing their laws on the population.
Some of us have heard stories of the last time this happened
 
It does not matter WHO, WHAT AGENCY that did/is doing this. The fact that it did happen/is happening is what is wrong, bad wrong. Even if it just happened once, that is to many times. For any LEO, NG or active duty Military to be on US soil confiscating legally owned firearms, is wrong, its police state mentality, its criminal.
 
mistakes are made. If they are corrected in a timely manner I think we can let them off without a summary execution this time
 
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