Katrina “Gun Confiscation” – My Experience

Posted on June 13, 2013 by MAC

Executive Summary:

Yes, some guns were confiscated in New Orleans, LA (NOLA) following hurricane Katrina, but it was nowhere near as widespread as some would have you believe. They were isolated incidents and the majority of those were done by out of town LEO and MIL.

What you are about to read are my personal experiences and recollection of events as I saw them. While not all-inclusive, I think they lend a fiar account of what really happened on the ground.

Realities:

While it has been nearly 8 years since the events of Hurricane Katrina, which in my opinion currently serves as the closest controlled experiment of a SHTF scenario in this country that we have on record in recent times, many of the incidents or perceived incidents that occurred during that time are still being discussed. I was there, at least for the worst of it. Allow me to set the record straight on a few things….

There were NOT sharks swimming down Canal St.
There were bodies floating in the streets and abandoned on the roadways.
There were people taking pot shots with rifles at rescue helicopters and patrolling law enforcement.
There were NOT hundreds of people being killed and raped in the Superdome, convention center, or elsewhere, including infants and elderly alleged victims.
There were people setting fire to malls and then shooting at the responding firemen.
There were people shooting at the electrical lineman on the poles as they attempted to restore power.
There were NOT Blackwater mercenaries patrolling the streets. They were there, but they were primarily at static posts guarding private business and governmental shelters and camps. They were security guards.
There was looting of all kinds, by all kinds of people to include the police in very limited instances.
There were NOT people eating each other.
There was SEVERE ineptness and failure on the part of all levels of government as it relates to the response.

There was NOT widespread Gun Confiscation in New Orleans. Wait what?

Who am I?

I feel it is important to tell you a little about myself in order to provide context and perspective to my statements as they relate to this topic. During Hurricane Katrina, I was on active duty with the United States Marine Corps and stationed in New Orleans, where I have lived for the last 15 years or so. I was also a reserve police officer with Gretna Police Department, which is located on what we call the “west bank” of the river. We ended up becoming the epicenter for the entire LEO response to the area after the storm due to the fact that we had secured our limited assess against destruction, both man-made and natural. I resided in the city in the “uptown” section near Magazine St and Tchoupitoulas Ave. My USMC unit was on the other side of town in what was the rough beginning of New Orleans East. Between those spots, I saw most of the city and greater metro area.

The flooding was devastating leaving citizens to fend for themselves in many cases.

I left the city on the Sunday before the storm hit and moved my then girlfriend and her child to Lafayette, LA. While there, we witnessed the storm hit and the levees break. I was able to communicate with my brother officers who were still there via Nextel Direct Connect at the time. They were under harassing fire and in short supply of ammunition.

I believe it was the Tuesday after the storm hit and the levee broke that I packed my truck with all the ammunition I had (which admittedly was a lot), and headed down home to see what I could do.

The following statements are paraphrases, anecdotal recollections of a very dangerous and trying time. My attempt is only to try and shed some first hand light onto what really happened for those first few weeks after the storm.

State of Confusion

Now, as this story relates to gun confiscation… yes, it happened. That said, it is not the widespread gun confiscation that is depicted in the media pieces. From a personal standpoint, I agree that one illegal gun confiscation is one too many, but let’s look at what really happened and attempt to view the incidents in context.

The entire area was in a state of complete and utter turmoil with not a single shred of command or control. The New Orleans Chief of Police basically declared his own martial law (which is wrong), and the mayor was about as useful as a screen door on a submarine. We had New Orleans Police Officers who went rogue, abandoned their posts, killed themselves, were looting, and all other manner of behavior to deal with. As I was leaving Lafayette, I passed 3 NOPD units heading towards Lafayette. All of the common social controls used to at least customarily identify the good guys from the bad were gone. Criminals were driving marked police cars, uniform and gun shops had been ransacked and pilfered. Other agencies had actually been involved in armed stand-offs with deviant NOPD officers. Yes, things were THAT bad.

Keep in mind, that by the end of that week, we also had several hundred National Guard, Marines, Army, and hundreds of out of state law enforcement officers, “aid workers”, media, etc. running around with very little control and accountability.

A call for help spray painted on the side of the house. The orange paint signifies a LEO response and marks the house as secure.

A call for help spray painted on the side of a house. The orange paint signifies a LEO response and marks the house as secure.

With that stated, the overwhelming majority of those who came down to help handled the chaos with a respectful professionalism and attention to duty, whose help and sacrifice was invaluable to those of us from the region… but that is not who we are here to talk about.

The Las Vegas Mentality:

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.

Most of them are smart enough to know that they are a citizen first and if it can happen to “them”, it can happen to “THEM” too. Also, we are seeing an uptick in the number of prior military service LEO’s and they actually take the constitution very seriously.

There will ALWAYS be those who will just “follow orders”, but widespread firearms confiscation will never happen. Even if we were to ignore the Constitutional elements of this argument, Paul Howe put it best based on the logical argument. Cops will not roll into a house KNOWN to have guns, simply to take them. Their lives and their families are more important than that.

Now, you give them an actual bona-fide bad guy, one they know is bad based on their own morals, and they will run through a hail of bullets to take him off the street. However, you ask us to go next door and take them from our hunting buddies and brother-in-laws… well, you just unified the largest and best armed group of individuals against the government.

If it is ever attempted in this country in a true large-scale confiscation, some cops will die. There will be an initial rise in violence and then it will settle as everyone figure out the rules. Cops will realize, like many are about the “Drug war”, that it simply is not worth it – in lives, money, or erosion of rights.

Brannon LeBouef is the owner and founder of NOLATAC Training and Consulting and The St Bernard indoor Shooting Center. Brannon is an 11-year veteran of the US Marine Corps, a 15 plus year veteran of law enforcement, a former private military security contractor, and professional firearms trainer. He can be reached at Brannon@nolatac.com or www.nolatacforum.com.

Photography by Brannon LeBouef

MAC

MAC is an avid shooter, former MCSF Marine, NRA member, Oath Keeper and is commissioned as a Colonel by the Governor of Kentucky. Known for his videos on the Military Arms Channel, he also writes for The Bang Switch, for Shotgun News (Be Ready!) and freelances for Guns & Ammo. MAC has been a life long shooter who has an interest in all things that go "bang" but gravitates towards military type firearms.