Contempt Motion Filed Against New Orleans Mayor, Police Chief -- GOPUSA

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Contempt Motion Filed Against New Orleans Mayor, Police Chief
By Susan Jones
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
March 2, 2006

(CNSNews.com) -- The Second Amendment Foundation and the National Rifle Association filed a motion on Wednesday to have New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley held in contempt of court.

The city leaders have refused to comply with a federal injunction to stop illegal gun confiscations and return all seized firearms to their rightful owners.

The Second Amendment Foundation and the NRA sued the city in federal court in September, following reports of gun confiscations from law-abiding citizens in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan Gottlieb said the contempt-of-court motion was filed only after attorneys exhausted all attempts to get the defendants to cooperate voluntarily.

Nagin and Riley essentially have ignored the federal court order, Gottlieb said.

"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."

New Orleans officials deny that any guns were seized, but that's just not true, Gottlieb said.

"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 said.

"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."

As Cybercast News Service previously reported, images of law enforcement officers confiscating legally-possessed firearms from New Orleans residents were played on video screens at a recent gathering of conservative activists.

Addressing attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington in mid-February, National Rifle Association Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre urged the audience to "Remember New Orleans!"

"New Orleans was the first place in American history to disarm peaceable citizens, house-by-house, at gunpoint," LaPierre said. "And I promise you this standing here today: We at the NRA are going to make sure it's the last place it ever happens."