ACLU Defends Gun Rights in New Orleans

It has been reported a New Orleans man is suing the district attorney as well as the City of New Orleans because his gun wasn’t given back to him when it was seized at the time he was arrested for drug and firearm charges. Errol Houston Jr’s advocate, The American Civil Liberties Union, this week filed a lawsuit on his behalf. Houston was arrested in 2008 at a traffic stop. The suit maintains even though the district attorney’s office decided not to prosecute Houston, it failed to return his .40 caliber firearm. The ACLU observes on behalf of Houston Leon Cannizzaro, Parish District Attorney put together a policy that when firearms are taken during an arrest they won’t be returned to the owners of them. The well-known organization known for its defense of constitutional rights, once again underlines how this policy violates the Second Amendment. In June of last year the Supreme Court elaborated on the definition of the Second Amendment and individual rights regarding guns under the Constitution. It decided “the right to have guns for self-defense in the home and addressing a constitutional riddle almost as old as the republic over what it means to say the people may keep and bear arms.” Louisiana’s gun laws reinforce the Second Amendment’s provisions. They further mention specifically the circumstances under which the carrying of a weapon is lawful or unlawful. Substantially the laws declare it is unlawful to carry a gun during the commission of a crime but say nothing about firearm possession and whether such property can be confiscated then not returned by authorities, especially in circumstances where an individual is not found guilty of a crime. In Louisiana keeping a gun is an important right even those who have been arrested consider essential enough to seek help from a civil rights organization.