Guns Banned at 'FEMA City' Outside Baton Rouge -- GOPUSA

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Guns Banned at 'FEMA City' Outside Baton Rouge
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
October 11, 2005

(CNSNews.com) -- A Second Amendment group is expressing "shock and disbelief" that people seeking refuge at a FEMA compound outside Baker, La., may not bring their firearms with them.

According to a report that aired on the Lehrer News Hour on Thursday, displaced New Orleans residents are being allowed to move into a trailer and RV compound called "FEMA City," but the conditions for residency include a ban on firearms.

"This is not acceptable." said Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb. He noted that the Second Amendment Foundation and the National Rifle Association recently filed a lawsuit in New Orleans, winning a temporary restraining order against the confiscation of firearms by police in both New Orleans and in nearby St. Tammany Parish.

"It doesn't matter whether this refuge community is behind a gate, or whether it is patrolled by police and security guards," Gottlieb said. "This restriction appears to be illegal under Louisiana law and the state constitution, as well as under a federal court ruling some years ago that protected firearms owned by residents in a federal public housing facility in another state.

Gottlieb said his group is making inquiries about the firearms restriction -- and who ordered it. "When we find out, we are going to pursue legal action," he said.

"Being the victim of a natural disaster does not require a citizen to surrender his or her civil rights, and that includes firearms rights and property rights," Gottlieb said. "The anti -gun attitude that seems to be growing out of Louisiana's disaster had better change, or we're going to change it in court."