U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Several publications on the Internet have been examining the emergency proclamation of 11 March, and emergency proclamation of 16 March by Mayor LaToya Cantrell, of New Orleans, Louisiana. The claim seems to be that Mayor Cantrell is promoting restrictions on the ownership of guns and/or the exercise of Second Amendment rights. That claim is not justified by Mayor Cantrell’s actions.
What mayor Cantrell did was to follow the law, nothing less, nothing more.
Here is the controversial paragraph in the emergency proclamation issued on 11 March, 2020.
The proclamation of 11 March clearly states: Subject to the provisions of ACT 275 of 2006 (regular session),
The statute which grants emergency powers to the mayor is RS29:727. Paragraph F.(8) is directly quoted in the 11 March proclamation. RS 29:727 F.(8) From legis.la.gov:
(8) Suspend or limit the sale, dispensing, or transportation of alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives, and combustibles.
Mayor Cantrell’s office was very careful when they created the proclamation, which simply asserted her power to act under RS 29:727. They knew they were limited on what could be done, because of the reforms put into the law, and because of lawsuits that had been filed after the fiasco of gun confiscation during Hurricane Katrina.
Representative Steve Scalise, who is now the Minority Whip in the U.S. House of Representatives, was instrumental in passing the reform in Louisiana in 2006. The reform is known as ACT 275. It limits seizures of firearms from citizens during a state of emergency. From legis.state.la.us:
ACT 275 (HB 760 Scalise) – Prohibits the seizure of firearms from law-abiding citizens during a state of emergency. Allows law enforcement officers to disarm someone when the officer reasonably believes it is necessary for the protection of the officer or anyone else. If an arrest is not made or the weapon seized as part of a criminal investigation, the weapon must be returned.
Mayor Cantrell carefully stated her authority over firearms was limited by ACT 275.
The 11 March emergency proclamation only stated the authority Mayor Cantrell had under statute RS 29:727.
When an emergency proclamation was made on 16 March, Mayor Cantrell used her statutory authority. She limited private and public gatherings. She did not prohibit sales of firearms or transportation of them. Her use of emergency powers was limited and measured to deal with the potential spread of the Wu Flu, or Coronavirus COVID-19.
The March 16 emergency proclamation omits any mention of firearms or ammunition. This was a deliberate move. It was not a copy and paste of all that RS 29:727 grants her the authority to do.
There are plenty of examples where mayors flout the law and have to be held in check with lawsuits, withholding of federal funds, or by being voted out of office.
The mayor of New Orleans deserves credit for following the law and being responsive.
In August of 2019, Mayor Cantrell came up with a three-part plan to deal with “gun violence”. “Gun Violence” is an Orwellian propaganda term. While “gun violence” is used in Mayor Cantrell’s plan, Mayor Cantrell’s plan does not call for outlawing guns, gun registration, banning semi-automatics, or curtailing the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
First, Mayor Cantrell’s plan calls for the creation of a Gun Violence Prevention Collective, to study the issue, create pilot programs, and to determine what works to reduce gun violence. This does not include restrictive gun legislation.
Second, the plan calls for Solving more Homicide Cases with funding of a New Orleans Crime Lab and a change in the way homicide cases are managed.
Third, the Cure Violence New Orleans program builds on Ceasefire New Orleans. The program focuses on the small number of violent people and situations where most homicides occur.
None of these parts promote more restrictions on gun ownership or the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
Mayor Cantrell could have followed the national trend of big-city mayors and promoted bans on rifles, bans on the carry of personal defense weapons, and other failed strategies.
Mayor Cantrell knows those will not work in Louisiana, where the Second Amendment is honored. She is not a stupid politician.
Give Mayor Cantrell her due. She has not used her emergency proclamations to snipe at the exercise of Second Amendment rights.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
Most already underrstand 99% of the problems come from the Mayors core supporters and
multiple voting followers. How does any person decree another person has NO Right to defend themselves?
Nagin still has three years to go at FCI Texarkana but they have cells available for those who commit the same or similar crimes. I heard one is reserved for Mayor Cantrell.
I didn’t know one sacrificed their constitutional rights in times of epidemic flu.
Seems like a infringement to me.
Dean, you’re overlooking the fact that Mayor Cantrell gave herself the ‘power’ to remove anyone from their residence and relocate them. The very law you cite mentions this power to outlaw the transportation of guns & ammo. Now assuming that an individual has a very limited number of guns (say, just a pistol) and no safe, are they to leave their firearm unsecured at home while they are relocated? And since it’s unsecured, who’s to say that NOLA officials don’t confiscate it for being unsecured. Even if someone owns a safe and keeps their arms in it, who’s to say… Read more »
Great points. In Florida, the law protects lawful individuals transporting firearms while evacuating in an emergency, even without a carry permit. It forecloses the authority to arrest such individuals without probable cause of a crime.
Now, THAT’s the way to do things.
@wjd, weren’t you among those who rightly criticized the previous mayor of New Orleans for failing to use exactly that same legal authority to require evacuation ahead of Katrina? You can “assume” any sort of worst case scenario to make your strawman argument, but it would be a lot more productive to focus on reality instead of screaming hysterically about things you imagine might happen. After all, who’s to say that a giant asteroid won’t impact NOLA tomorrow and solve all these problems? Who’s to say that the Second Coming won’t occur this afternoon? The argument that government might do… Read more »
This and Katrina are apples and oranges, two completely different kinds of emergencies. What’s the same, though, is the unconstitutional assuption of dictatorial powers now as then. The thing that’s supposed to separate us from third-world tinpot dictatorships. We MUST guard against abuses of power; if I can envision how it can be abused, you can damn well bet that THEY FIGURED IT OUT TOO. Evacuation is sometimes necessary when imminent dangers such as hurricanes and flooding require measures to prevent unnecessary loss of life. But evacuation just to force people out of their homes unnecessarily when the current threat… Read more »
I feel a little confused here. I feel as though the mayor has said, “The federal law prohibits us from collecting people’s firearms, so we won’t, but this little law of ours just wants to make it clear that, if we need to place controls on firearms anyway, then we will.” I have a little trouble giving the mayor “her due” on that, although there are few people whose well considered views are of more interest to me than Dean Weingarten’s.
‘Can’t argue with your analysis, Dean, but (justifiably) being the skeptical type, I think the key statement in your article is that “She is not a stupid politician.”
My take? Ideological, yes, stupid, not necessarily. I wish I shared your optimism.
I don’t trust most metropolitan mayors as far as I can throw them, for good reason.
The only way to control them is with strong state legislative preemption, in a state with a reliably conservative administration.
And even then, too many times they must be taken to court.
We have to remember fundamental freedoms are as important as the ability of citizens to be armed. Without arms, those fundamental freedoms can be stolen. Any action taken by leadership that has a blanket effect on removing rights from the law abiding is a Article VI violation. You cannot assume leadership will abide by morals when laws give them entitlement to take away citizens rights. Steve Scalise is a hero as far as I’m concerned for righting a wrong! Let’s get onboard that freedom train folks, and make damn sure these civil servants never violate Article VI!
The only way all of this could go sideways, regardless of state, city or county is genuine confiscation–where they come to actually take away firearms. That will put law enforcement into a position of great danger, and quite honestly they should simply refuse to do that unless it is a real deal felon with a gun–then it is regular police work. But police becoming “jack booted thugs” did occur in Germany where police officers formed the majority of direct gun to head executions of Jews in Poland — the einsatzgruppen.
It also occurred during Katrina in New Orleans.
Ill never forget the elder lady with her wheelgun. We should bring back the gibbet for jbts!
Im pretty sure we got stuff we can spray em with so they wouldnt stink up the neighbourhood as they swayed in their lil cage and slowly dried out
Dispensing with the obvious name calling and expecting the usual politically correct responses I in no way apologize ahead of time for my following comment. Mayor Cantrell is the perfect example of why people are prejudice against women and blacks. She re-enforces EVERY negative stereotype of both groups and is the perfect example of why racist and misogynist jokes continue to exist. The fact that she is a Democrat is just another stereotype to be correctly added to the mix.
@JPM, Someone must give a voice to what many are quietly thinking.
Dean, I find most of your articles informative (including your “bear attack” series; ignoring the “be careful what you wish for” maxim yet again perhaps one day I’ll get back to the “woods” if not the “wilderness”). Regardless, whatever your motivation in defending the New Orleans Mayor, I am compelled to point out that not all “laws” are “lawful”, especially not when granted to oneself (or even if granted by one’s predecessor(s)). And, importantly the USA, its Constitution was not founded on the logic of “the ends justify the means”. By way of example the “jury system” is quite imperfect… Read more »
Have we let them go too far? All I can say is
ARM UP, AND CARRY ON!!!
Here is a Federal Law decision from a North Carolina case…. Prior to 2012, during a declared state of emergency, several General Statutes allowed restrictions and prohibitions to be imposed on the “possession, transportation, sale, purchase, storage and use of dangerous weapons and substances, and gasoline.” “Dangerous weapons” included firearms such as handguns, rifles, and shotguns.” Those General Statutes, as they applied to firearms, were held unconstitutional in the federal court case of Bateman v. Perdue, 881 F.Supp.2d 709 (2012). As a result, the North Carolina General Assembly repealed those General Statutes and enacted the current statute [G.S. 166A-19.31] to… Read more »
@chiefy, That is a good case to keep handy.
Strange to see any reasonable and rational article posted in any of the 2A bloggerverse, but even though AmmoLand let this sane and sensible article slip through, they didn’t miss the opportunity to post it under an ambiguous clickbait headline supported by a deliberately misleading and irrelevant clickbait photo.
Thank you Dean, but shame on the worthless trash who wrote the headline and chose the photo.
All I can say as resident of Louisiana, when it comes to Cantrell and her antics we are always watching our backs. I am lucky enough to live on the opposite side of the state but i do visit New Orleans on a regular basis. Food for thought for all of you as well……
remember she is the one on that still has not had the 2 bodies trapped in the Hard Rock Hotel collapse remove and still getting daily checks because she declared a state of emergency for that incident.
Fails 42 U.S. Code § 5207. See (a)(3) at https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/5207
@live, Could you, please, use a whole sentence. Or are you implying that the Mayor of NO is an officer or employee of the United States?
42 U.S. Code § 5207. Firearms policies U.S. Code Notes prev | next (a) Prohibition on confiscation of firearms No officer or employee of the United States (including any member of the uniformed services), or person operating pursuant to or under color of Federal law, or receiving Federal funds, or under control of any Federal official, or providing services to such an officer, employee, or other person, while acting in support of relief from a major disaster or emergency, may— (1) temporarily or permanently seize, or authorize seizure of, any firearm the possession of which is not prohibited under Federal, State,… Read more »
Addendem:
Constitution of the United States, Artice VI Section 1. §2 : “This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof,; . . .shall be the supreme Law of the Land;”
Nice job kissing the piece of democrat shit’s ring there Dean. But it’s what we expect from you and this fake second amendment site.
@Some guy
Visualize (smokie and craig in the first friday movie) DAMMMMMMM