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.”