SAF WARNS NEW ORLEANS, NAGIN: ‘NO GUN GRABS THIS HURRICANE SEASON’

For Immediate Release:   5/30/2006

BELLEVUE, WA – With hurricane researchers predicting that New Orleans could once again be hit by a major storm during the upcoming hurricane season, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is warning the city and Mayor Ray Nagin bluntly to not repeat last year’s gun confiscations.

“This isn’t an ‘or-else’ kind of thing, it’s not a debate,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “We went to court once, and we’ll go back, only this time, we’ve already got a court ruling on our side.

“If a devastating storm hits New Orleans, or anywhere else along the Gulf Coast or Atlantic Seaboard, we will expect the constitutional rights of citizens to be respected, not raped,” Gottlieb said. “We’re adopting a zero tolerance policy.”

Gottlieb noted that the current legal action against New Orleans by SAF and the National Rifle Association has not yet been satisfactorily resolved. At one point, SAF and NRA attorneys were prepared to request a contempt citation against Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley.

“And we’ll go forward with that if necessary,” Gottlieb stated. “If Ray Nagin thinks his re-election gives him some sort of mandate to repeat last September’s outrage, he is mistaken. We did not go to court on a lark. This is not some kind of elaborate joke. We’re simply not kidding. Is there any part of that the mayor doesn’t understand?”

Gottlieb did not rule out the possibility that SAF would call for Justice Department investigations of any gun confiscations, and the arrest and prosecution of anyone involved in such an operation.

“The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was the first time in this country that the government ever moved to disarm citizens,” Gottlieb said, “and it better be the last. We’re letting Mayor Nagin and Superintendent Riley, and all other public officials in the hurricane region know that we will be watching them closely this summer.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

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