New Orleans Mayor Bans Sale and Transportation of Firearms

By Jay D. Hunt, Ph.D.

On beautiful, sunny Saturday, March 14, LSA President Dan Zelenka, LSA Life Member Tom Gresham, and I were practicing social distancing by exercising our Second Amendment rights at a private shooting range in Mississippi. Our bliss was suddenly interrupted when we received a text message: the Mayor of New Orleans was planning to invoke emergency powers and issue a coronavirus emergency order allowing her to ban the sale and transportation of firearms. Tom immediately turned to Dan and said, “I’m calling Alan Gottlieb.”

On March 16, 2020, the Second Amendment Foundation responded to Cantrell’s claims of emergency powers over firearms by reminding her that they sued over Second Amendment infringement following Hurricane Katrina and will do so during the era of coronavirus if needed. SAF executive vice president Alan Gottlieb said, “Following Hurricane Katrina, we sued the city when then-Mayor Ray Nagin’s administration began confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens for no good reason. The federal court order the city to cease confiscations. We sued New Orleans then, and we’ll do it again. The presence of a nasty disease does not suspend any part of the Bill of Rights, no matter what some municipal, state or even federal politician may think. While we certainly recognize the seriousness of this virus and its ability to spread rapidly, treating COVID-19 and taking steps to prevent it from infecting more people has nothing at all to do with the exercise of the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment.”

Gottlieb added, “People legally licensed to carry should not have their right to do so suddenly curtailed because some politician panicked. We didn’t allow it before, and we’re not going to allow it now.”

The LSA is keeping a close eye on Mayor LaToya Cantrell (D), who is no friend to law-abiding gun owners. We very much appreciate the crucial help of the SAF. If you do not support the SAF, you probably should consider it. The LSA gets no financial support from the SAF, but the SAF has filed EVERY major law suit in support of the Second Amendment and your right to keep and bear arms. You can visit the SAF here.

About the Author


Competitive shooter, hunter, fisherman, pilot, vizsla servant, father, son, scientist, and lover of Civil Rights.

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