There wasn't widespread confiscation of personal firearms in NOLA. This is a handy myth put forth by the paranoid. The personal account linked below is only one of many which dispels this silly fairy tale. They're out there if you want to find them.

Yes, guns were taken, but with my own eyes, the overwhelming majority of those criminal and unethical acts, which is still a small number, were done by out of state LEO and military. These military members were primarily 18-21 year old reservists who thought they were coming down to help fill sandbags and clean roadways, but were instead thrust into law enforcement roles with little training and even less leadership.

Among the bad eggs of the group, there was this mentality that grew out of the lack of accountability that I call the “Vegas Mentality” where they realized no one really knew who they were and the lack of command and control meant there was no real accountability. For those whose moral compass had began to wander, the environment created a “wild west” atmosphere. There were a couple of agencies that were thanked for their assistance and politely asked to go home. It was primarily these bad eggs, along with a couple of NOPD officers, who we see in the YouTube videos.

There were also a couple of individuals acting alone at some of the checkpoints. I know I encountered countless people with firearms and did not confiscate a single one, neither did any officer I knew or worked with. The only time firearms were seized were when someone was arrested for a crime—no different than before the rain.

Truth be told, that was the basic ROE if you will, for my agency and those I encountered, including the over 200 or so federal agents that were based out of our department for several weeks –

“Guys, BE SMART. BE SAFE. BE POLITE. People are in bad places physically, mentally, and financially. Do not push people, but do not allow yourself to be pushed. We operate under the same rules and policies as before the storm—only with fewer resources. If you would not have seized a firearm as evidence of a crime or incident to an arrest, don’t take it now.”

As it related to “looting” by the police, we were instructed that if the integrity of the building had been compromised by the storm, to go in and take what we needed, but do not make entry into secured buildings. We also had permission from the local supermarkets, Academy Sports, and several other businesses to take whatever we wanted for our use and to distribute to the community. That was immensely helpful.


National Guardsmen taking a break.

I am paraphrasing the basic theme of our morning briefings before we headed out to countless looting calls, death calls from people suffocating, killing themselves, gunfire calls, etc. It also helped tremendously that our leadership made a decision to have all non-local LEO work static checkpoints and positions while those of us familiar with the areas, and most importantly the people, handled patrol and calls. Having some State Trooper from NY try and deal with a hot, hungry, and tired Cajun from the bayou is a recipe for chaos.

After the first couple weeks, many of the people arrested for looting were National Guard people. New Orleans had National Guard “troops”, basically young reservists serving their 2-week active time each year patrolling the streets in fully marked patrol cars for 2-YEARS! This was a huge problem, and I personally had to deal with them on traffic stops and various other calls. They simply were not trained or experienced to deal with the role they were thrust into.

Cops and Gun Control and following orders and keeping oaths and…

I have been fortunate enough to train, and train with, thousands of police officers across this country, all strata of jurisdiction, regional idiosyncrasies, and mindsets. I can tell you unequivocally that the OVERWELMING number of police officers will not take firearms from US citizens. Period.

Katrina

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