Has FEMA ever limited Firearms in Trailers?

[LSU2001]

There is a great debate in Baton Rouge (at least on talk radio) about the FEMA ruling that firearms are prohibited in the trailer parks that they are building in the BR area. I personally think that FEMA has crossed the line with this ruling and are trampling the 2nd amendment rights of evacuees.

I thought that I would pose the question to this board to see if similar rules have been applied elsewhere. I guess I could understand the ruling if it has been consistent with policy in other states, but I would have a huge problem with it if it is simply because of the demographic represented by the Katrina evacuees.
Please respond!!!
Tim

[GalvestonDuck]

Where else do they expect people to keep their weapons?

We packed my best friend's husband's guns to take with us, believing that a Cat 5 was going to hit and we didn't know what would be left and who might get to the debris first (looters?). He had to work at the hospital, which was eventually evacuated also and he caught up with us in Lindale by Friday. But if we had come back to the island in ruins, I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted to give up his firearms. They are secured. I don't get why there should be a problem for FEMA.

[LSU2001]

From what I understand Duckie, FEMA says that becase the trailer parks are "high density houseing" firearms are simply too dangerous to allow. THe debate has included such statements as it is too dangerous to allow "these people" to have firearms, how can they have guns when they lost everything, the government owns the trailers so they can set the rules, this is temp. housing so the constitution does not apply. I cannot see the resoning behind this rule and I would want to have my guns in the aftermath of a storm. Anyway I thought I would get yall's opinion.
TIm

[alicia-w]

I'm wondering if they're considering it a federal reservation.

[vbhoutex]

I believe the same rules were applied in FL after Charley. I am almost sure I read something about that. In some ways it makes sense to me(high density housing=more possible trouble(not talking demographics of the inhabitants, just common sense)). In other ways, I understand peoples rights and need to defend themselves.

[LSU2001]

GUN BAN AT FEMA RELIEF CENTER OUTSIDE BATON ROUGE
By NewsWires
MichNews.com
Oct 8, 2005



BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) today expressed shock and disbelief that authorities are continuing to target firearms held by private citizens who are now seeking refuge at a relief center outside Baker, Louisiana, a bedroom community near Baton Rouge.

According to a report that aired on the Lehrer News Hour on Thursday, displaced New Orleans residents are being allowed to move into a compound called "FEMA City," where trailers and RVs have been assembled to provide temporary housing. Among the conditions for being allowed to move in – and the only one detailed by Baker Mayor Harold Rideau – is that no firearms are allowed. The compound was established by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), hence its nickname.

"This is not acceptable," said SAF Founder Alan Gottlieb, "especially after the lawsuit that we, and the National Rifle Association, filed recently in New Orleans that secured a temporary restraining order against the confiscation of firearms by police in that city and in nearby St. Tammany Parish.

"It doesn't matter whether this refuge community is behind a gate, or whether it is patrolled by police and security guards," Gottlieb continued. "This restriction appears to be illegal under Louisiana law and the state constitution, as well as under a federal court ruling some years ago that protected firearms owned by residents in a federal public housing facility in another state.

"We are making inquiries about this restriction, and who ordered it," Gottlieb said. "When we find out, whether it is an order that came from local authorities, or from FEMA, when we establish who gave that order, we are going to pursue legal action.

"Being the victim of a natural disaster does not require a citizen to surrender his or her civil rights, and that includes firearms rights and property rights," Gottlieb stated. "The anti-gun attitude that seems to be growing out of Louisiana's disaster had better change, or we're going to change it in court."

http://www.saf.org

Copyright© MichNews.com. All Rights Reserved.

[O Town]

I believe the same rules were applied in FL after Charley. I am almost sure I read something about that. In some ways it makes sense to me(high density housing=more possible trouble(not talking demographics of the inhabitants, just common sense)). In other ways, I understand peoples rights and need to defend themselves.

I do know the crime rate was very high in that trailer park FEMA had created after Charlie. So I think they are taking that as a lesson. I did not hear they were not allowed to have the fire arms there, but I did hear about the crime. It was a huge area trailers as far as the eye could see. Something I will always remeber seeing, and that was this year on our vacation to Sanibel, just south of Punta Gorda, people are still living there.

Anyway I can also see both sides of this. But if it were me, I would be very upset if they told me I could not bring my fire arms to protect my family. We do not own any, but in a situation like that we may go buy one. People are under alot of stress and alot have nothing, and are willing to do almost anything to get something. So I think you need some sort of protection. I believe they have crossed the line as well.

But on the other hand I don't know if I would want those same stressed people running around my temporary neighborhood with guns, ready to do whatever to get whatever. But at least if I had a gun as well I would feel much safer.

[CajunMama]

This is just my opinion only....FEMA is the landlord...landlords have the right to decide what tenants can have on the property. I believe there is low income government subsidized housing here and firearms are NOT allowed. There have been tenants evicted for possessing a firearm in them.

[GalvestonDuck]

Well, if their homes are gone and businesses are gone, where are they supposed to keep them?

"While I watch the cannons flashing
I clean my gun and dream of Galveston"

[Roxy]

I don't see how that can be legal. Landlord or not we have a constitutional right to bear arms. Odd, I hope they take them to court and win.

[thunderchief]

Im normally a big defender of citizens freedoms... but lets face it NO had some pretty bad behavior problems. Remember these shelters are being set up by the good grace of the surrounding communities and they have every right to take precautions against the lawlessness that occured. NO citizens who own guns should be provided with a safe place to store them while they are in the shelters.

[jax]

Wal Mart has susspended sales of all fire arms and ammunition
here on the Mississippi coast.... That includes shot guns and bird
shot...

[LSU2001]

Remember folks,

They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security

Ben Franklin




Tim

[alicia-w]

FEMA lifts ban on guns at temporary housing
Under new policy, residents can own, store firearms, but not use them

NEW ORLEANS - Following complaints from gun-rights groups, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday it is lifting a ban on firearms at emergency housing parks built in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Under the new federal policy, residents can possess and store firearms. Use of weapons is still prohibited in the parks, said Butch Kinerny, a FEMA spokesman.

Gun rights groups had sought the change, saying the original policy violated Second Amendment protections for gun ownership. Kinerny said FEMA made the change after consulting with lawyers.

FEMA said it has been general policy for several years to prohibit guns at such parks anywhere in the country. But two gun rights groups — the National Rifle Association and Second Amendment Foundation — said they found out about it only this month as a 600-trailer encampment opened near Baton Rouge.

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre praised the change. “It is wrong to force citizens to give up their constitutional rights in order for them to get a needed federal benefit,” he said in a news release.

Col. Greg Phares, chief sheriff’s deputy in Baton Rouge, had asked for a firearms ban at the park. He expressed frustration Monday, saying FEMA gave him conflicting information on whether there was such a ban in the first place. He also said gun-rights groups overreacted.

“I never looked at it, and I don’t look at it now, as a Second Amendment issue,” Phares said. “We had asked for FEMA to say firearms would not be permitted on site, just as you can’t bring firearms into the federal building, into the Legislature in Baton Rouge, into an LSU football game.”

Pros and cons
Yolanda Vaughn, who along with her husband, Dwain, moved into the park earlier this month after evacuating from the New Orleans area, said she could see both sides of the gun issue.

“Dwain and I have never had a gun, so that’s OK for us, but I do realize there are people who need to protect themselves,” she said. “But if a person loses control, they may hurt somebody.”

Meanwhile Monday, with thousands of New Orleans residents facing possible eviction, a judge temporarily blocked landlords from forcing out tenants unless hearings are held close to home.

The judge acted in a suit filed by community activist groups that contend state law requires eviction hearings to be held in New Orleans.

Landlords have been filing eviction suits, saying they have thousands of apartments that could help remedy a severe housing shortage cited as a major obstacle to getting employee-hungry businesses running. Many tenants who fled the region have not contacted their landlords.

Since shortly after Katrina battered the city, the court has been operating in Gonzales, roughly 60 miles west of New Orleans. The suit says thousands of renters do not have personal transportation to Gonzales.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9807928/

[gtalum]

There is a great debate in Baton Rouge (at least on talk radio) about the FEMA ruling that firearms are prohibited in the trailer parks that they are building in the BR area. I personally think that FEMA has crossed the line with this ruling and are trampling the 2nd amendment rights of evacuees.

No one is forced to take the FEMA housing. No one's 2nd Amendment rights are violated by putting conditions on living in the "free" homes.

[HurriCat]

This "logic" always escapes me. A criminal by definition disobeys laws, so the only ones who will be unarmed are the good people who obey the law in the first place. It's like the saying: A padlock only keeps an honest man honest. And it's true: I have never crow-barred open someone's tool shed and stole their mower, weedwhip and miscellaneous tools. It's wrong, and against the law. But some skumbags sure did it to my place. So much for my locked doors and those laws!

Criminals will still sneak weapons in, period.

[Houstonia]

Im normally a big defender of citizens freedoms... but lets face it NO had some pretty bad behavior problems. Remember these shelters are being set up by the good grace of the surrounding communities and they have every right to take precautions against the lawlessness that occured. NO citizens who own guns should be provided with a safe place to store them while they are in the shelters.

It's not just NO people though. Consider the situation: after a disaster, too many people crowded together in a small compound of trailers. You have people who are under varying levels of stress, and at wit's end. The frustrations are daily and endless. You will have people who will be drinking, possibly more than usual. You will have marital disputes, neighbor disputes about everything from loud noise, barking dogs, etc.

You will have people who KNOW that others have brought all they can into those trailers. Unfortunately there are people out there who would like to take advantage of others.

This is not the place to have guns. Now, that being said, gun-owners deserve to have someplace secure to store their guns. Because if the guns are back at the houses - which are damaged- they are certainly not secure there either.

But I do see the point in not allowing them in the trailer parks.

[streetsoldier]

So..do they ban hunting or kitchen knives, too? Icepicks? Tools (screwdrivers, hammers, saws, etc.)?

Guns notwithstanding, there are a LOT of weapons out there...makeshift or improvised. And, make NO mistake...if someone wants you dead, you're dead. And there's nothing you can do about it WITHOUT some means of self-protection.

That's why we HAVE the Second Amendment, FEMA be hanged.

[LSU2001]

There is a great debate in Baton Rouge (at least on talk radio) about the FEMA ruling that firearms are prohibited in the trailer parks that they are building in the BR area. I personally think that FEMA has crossed the line with this ruling and are trampling the 2nd amendment rights of evacuees.

No one is forced to take the FEMA housing. No one's 2nd Amendment rights are violated by putting conditions on living in the "free" homes.

I have to disagree, When the govt places restrictions on firearms based only upon where you live then they are affecting second amendment rights. However, these rights can sometimes be restricted if there is an overwhelming reason for doing so. Schools, military bases, air ports etc. However, the price of the accomadations has nothing to do with it. Using the logic of "close quarters" then guns should be banned in all apts, trailer parks, condos, garden home neighborhoods, and anywhere else where people must live in close proximity. These "free trailers" were purchased using taxpayer money and as a taxpayer I protest FEMA'S restriction of gun ownership.
Tim

[NC George]

Use of weapons is still prohibited in the parks, said Butch Kinerny, a FEMA spokesman.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9807928/

Duh - discharging a firearm near a occupied dwelling is illegal in most jurisdictions.