When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, gun owners who were left behind became targets for daring to defend themselves and their property. Barbara Baird at Human Events details how it went down for JoAnn Guidos, a bar owner who stayed open through the worst of the disaster:
On September 8, 2008, Guidos and friends decided to leave New Orleans. Things had quieted down with the arrival of federal troops, but heat and humidity stayed high. So, since there was no power restored yet to her building, she decided it would be safe to lock the bar and head to Mississippi. While loading the van in front of the bar, she carried her Browning 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun and wore a .38 in her belt. Five U.S. Marshals came driving down St. Claude and stopped half a block away from the pub. They got out of their vehicle and came running toward Guidos and crew with M-16s, yelling “Put the guns down!” Guidos said, “They went right after me. They said to put my hands on the car and then, asked if I had any other guns.” She gave them her other guns and asked for a receipt. They never showed any ID, and they never gave her a receipt.
Two months later, she turned in the necessary paperwork to get her guns back. Almost two years later, she still wants her guns back:
Futhermore, she believes she is caught between two systems: the local police department and the federal law enforcement system. She continued, “This is the question I put to Dan and nobody can give me an answer: Where are my damn guns?
“My weapons were taken by the U.S. Marshals, and supposedly they were in federal custody and I was verbally told that the Feds transferred the weapons to New Orleans, but I cannot find out who transferred them and who received them. … There’s paperwork there somewhere that someone signed for. If I can get a copy of the transfer order, than I can at least either get my weapons back and/or the value back of the weapons [value approx. $3,000].”
When asked about Guidos’ predicament, Holliday responded: “I don’t have any information regarding Guidos. Because her situation involved a gun seized as evidence it does not fall under our consent judgment, even now that the charges were dismissed.”
Even for a bureaucracy the size of the United States Government ought to be able to process her request in two years. What is the hold up? Well, it’s probable the government doesn’t have their guns. JoAnn Guidos’ guns are likely in someone’s personal collection:
Baton Rouge writer Gordon Hutchinson, author of The Great New Orleans Gun Grab, Descent into Anarchy, reacted to the news about the lack of applicants, and said, “I’m not surprised New Orleans hasn’t had any takers. … Most of the citizens who lost decent guns to the uniformed goons in the anarchy after the hurricane figured they’d never see their guns again – and they were right. The cops that stole guns didn’t turn in the quality stuff. That went in personal arsenals. The trash was turned in and inventoried.”
Guidos says she has more guns now, and says, “I have all my paperwork in order on my weapons. And I’ll stay inside my building and I’ll be damned if anyone is going to take my guns from me again.”
Amen, sister.
