Second Amendment Foundation
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NEWS RELEASE SAF SEEKS CONTEMPT VIOLATION AGAINST NEW ORLEANS MAYOR,
POLICE CHIEF BELLEVUE, WA – Frustrated by the continued failure of New
Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley to
comply with a federal injunction issued last September to halt illegal
gun confiscations following Hurricane Katrina and return all seized
firearms to their owners, the Second Amendment Foundation and National
Rifle Association have filed a motion in federal court to have both
Nagin and Riley held in contempt.
SAF Founder Alan Gottlieb said the motion was made only after attorneys
had exhausted all attempts to communicate and cooperate with the
defendants, who have essentially ignored the federal court order. SAF
and NRA took the city to federal court in September after widespread
reports of gun confiscations in direct conflict with the Second
Amendment and the Louisiana State Constitution.
“If Ray Nagin and Warren Riley think this lawsuit, and the court order,
will just go away by pretending they don’t exist, they are sadly
mistaken,” Gottlieb said. “Authorities in nearby Tammany Parish
complied with the injunction immediately, and have agreed to the
permanent restraining order. Counsel for New Orleans signed a consent
order last Sept. 23, so they know this case is on the table.
“The City of New Orleans has insisted that no guns were seized, and we
know that’s not true,” Gottlieb continued. “Our attorneys have provided
the New Orleans attorney with evidence of the confiscations, including
witness statements, and that information has been ignored. Authorities
in New Orleans have made no attempt to comply with the consent order
and return the firearms seized by police.
“Mayor Nagin seems to be suffering from the same denial that possessed
him before the hurricane hit, and in the days afterward when he blamed
everyone else on the map for his failure of leadership,” Gottlieb
observed. “We want Nagin and Chief Riley to appear in open court and
testify under oath why they should not be held in contempt. They have
been given every opportunity to comply with the court order and they
have done nothing. They are not above the law.”
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