The ACLU, not exactly known for being sympathetic to the right to keep and bear arms, is going to bat for a New Orleans man who had his gun confiscated. From the Associated Press:
The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed the federal lawsuit Thursday on behalf of Errol Houston Jr., who was arrested last year following a traffic stop. The lawsuit says the district attorney's office declined to prosecute Houston but has refused to return his .40-caliber firearm.
Why? After all:
"Mr. Houston has done nothing wrong. There are no criminal charges against him. His firearm, which he is and was entitled to carry, has been confiscated for no reason..."
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro is not pleased:
Cannizzaro said he doesn't know why one of his predecessors refused to prosecute Houston, whom he said had a gun under the floor board of his car when police stopped him.
"I have a serious question as to why this charge was refused in the first place," he said.
With all due respect, Mr. DA, and it appears very little is due, that's not your call. As an officer of the court, sworn to uphold the law, you don't get to disregard it, or to make up edicts of your own.
This is the kind of authoritarian mentality that leads to "terror watch list" gun bans, to prior restraints, and to "no rights" lists where suspicion trumps all.
This is supposed to be America, Mr. Cannizzaro. If Mr. Houston is a menace to society, he needs to be charged, convicted and segregated from it. If you can't do that, our criminal justice system presumes his innocence.
Perhaps we ought to be assessing the danger of having a DA who ignores that, and who presumes to be a law unto himself.
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Comments
Has GOA, NRA or 2nd Amendment foundation given any support to this outrageous violation of law by the DA. Not only should the City, State and LE Organization involved be sued but the DA should be charged with any appropriate charges available starting with dereliction of duty (to uphold the law and Constitution).
LA cannot be let off the hook especially in light of the illegal confiscation which they perpetrated during Katrina etc.
Nail their ykw's to the wall ane get tha DA removed from office.
Oops. Forgot to insert "the victim for" between "...any support to..." and "...this outrageous..." in above post.
"Cannizzaro says his office decides on a "case by case basis" whether to return confiscated guns."
prosecute the DA for breaking the law.
["Cannizzaro says his office decides on a "case by case basis" whether to return confiscated guns."
prosecute the DA for breaking the law.]
Sounds like theft to me. I would bet Cannizzaro can't get the gun back from whichever public official now has it. Oops, that's gang activity, isn't it? Sounds like time to take all of Cannizzaro's assets as the proceeds of a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization. Hmm, maybe RICO statutes do have a valid place.
The La ACLU should, in addition to the lawsuit, be pursuing efforts to have the DA charged in federal court with felony denial of civil rights.
I am still a big fan of photographing your weapons serial numbers (maybe even with your DL in the pic) and scanning the receipts for them. ONE DAY, we may be faced with a Katrina in our own backyards and have to prove 'beyond a shadow of doubt' that a firearm is really ours. I think Mr. Houston will have a significant hurdle to clear regarding 'ownership' given LAs track record on returning firearms.
"ONE DAY, we may be faced with a Katrina in our own backyards and have to prove 'beyond a shadow of doubt' that a firearm is really ours."
I think a better plan is to not let them be confiscated in the first place. One way or another.
Also, I know of a police officer, who (online) admitted that he will confiscate a gun if you don't have immediate proof of ownership while carrying it. Needless to say, this made everyone on the board LIVID. Because if you didn't have a reciept for your gun during a traffic stop he would bring the gun back to police headquaters and kept until you demonstrated proof of ownership. Same deal if your gun was taken after a crime in your house.
Clearly La, has some legal issues its citizens need to deal with.
I've heard, but cannot prove, that the national ACLU is anti-gun rights, but there are local ACLU chapters that are not. They will file lawsuits that the national group will not.
Next major hurricane hits new Orleans, nobody with a shiny badge is to be allowed on the bus. Period. That should take care of this garbage.
Just another reason to stay away from New Orleans. It is a cess pool: all of the cops are dirty and the politicians crooks. Perhaps flushing the toilet one more time is in order.
bill
I maintain positive proof of ownership of my guns at all times. If you try to take one of them, I'll kill you. Problem solved.
The GOA, NRA and SAF do little to support the Second Amendment in good economic times, you don't expect them to waste their free cash in tough economic times do you? If they fulfilled their stated purpose, they wouldn't have any money left to buy houses and pay their personal bills. The only difference between these 2A groups and ACORN is their initials. The mindset of the people are the same.
In the state of Louisiana, one's car is considered an extension of one's home. Therefore, it is legal to have a firearm in one's vehicle without a permit.
"I've heard, but cannot prove, that the national ACLU is anti-gun rights, but there are local ACLU chapters that are not. They will file lawsuits that the national group will not."
I've heard the same thing.
After digging a bit I posted about this case on my Blog. The complaint specifically mentions Second Amendment rights so I'm guessing the rumor is true.
One among many questions which arise here is:
after having confiscated Mr. Houston’s firearm--a firearm unarguably among the most effective tools yet devised for self defense--then released him unarmed into a society known to be inhabited by dangerous criminals, ( many also additionally known to be armed with a variety of weapons )...
who assumed responsibility for Mr. Houston’s protection?
Granted, a firearm itself does not necessarily ensure safety, but if a circumstance did occur before Mr. Houston acquired another firearm and he suffered some loss of property or bodily injury at the hands of criminals, who among those having disarmed him and failed to provide for his safety could be held culpable?
Any law allowing disarmament of a person without just cause, due process and proof of the necessity that their ’Right’ to keep and bear arms must be rescinded is arbitrary as law and immoral in principle.
What then can be said about those who enforce arbitrary and immoral law
District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro is the menace to society, not Houston. But his sort of filth will eventually fall and be destroyed.
These puling leftists really don't understand that, with every act of anti-American evil they commit, they come one step closer to creating the force that they fear so much.
I almost pity them and the families when the day of retribution comes.
I thought the SAF and the NRA solved this problem with their lawsuit
You mean it anti so!
As far as GOA is concerned they have so little money to operate on right now I’m surprised their still in business.
Plus KABA still requires log in to comment on articles at a time when gun owners need to share info.
Hell if a couple of Brady trolls and anti-gun thugs can cause SAF/KABA to change their policy on posting comments then what hope do we have they will defend our 2A rights!
jonolan,
Second Amendment supporters are patriotic Americans who love their county and would like to see it continue as a bastion of freedom for many generation to come. A country where a balance of power exists such that citizens appoint officials to serve them not rule them. We are not anti-government hillbillies. We are police chiefs, doctors, engineers, politicians, and blue collar workers. I think you are a Brady troll; in which case speaking sense is a waste of my time, however I still feel it is important to state the facts.
BW
I'm not sure comments about "the day of retribution", or veiled threats to perceived evil-doers and their families, are very helpful to the cause. Just my opinion, but posts like jonolan's sound like he or she is either a) the mullet-wearing redneck Southern goober that the Left thinks is the typical gun owner, or b) as BrianW suggested, a Bradytroll. I hope the latter.
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