Other Recommended Books

Privateer Publications is also selling some other books recommended by Chris Bird that are published by other companies. The retail price and shipping costs are noted at the end of each entry. Contact Privateer Publications for wholesale orders.

It Not Only Could Happen Here, It Did

The Great New Orleans Gun Grab: Descent into Anarchy
By Gordon Hutchinson & Todd Masson

$19.95 plus $5 shipping and in Texas $1.65 sales tax Buy Now!

To those head-in-the-sand people who say mass gun confiscations couldn’t happen in America, a new book is the perfect response. The Great New Orleans Gun Grab: Descent into Anarchy details the appalling story of how, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, law enforcement officers in New Orleans took legally owned firearms from residents who had committed no crime.
These confiscations took place in blatant disregard for the U.S. and Louisiana constitutions at a time when New Orleans police were providing little or no service or protection for residents of the Crescent City.

The book was written by Gordon Hutchinson and Todd Masson. Hutchinson was an officer with the 82nd Airborne Division during the Vietnam era and is now a firearms writer and shooting sports columnist. Masson is an award winning writer and editor for Louisiana Sportsman and several other outdoor magazines.

I recounted in detail one of the stories of survival that came out of New Orleans and touched on some of the gun confiscations in one chapter of my book, Thank God I Had a Gun. But the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina deserved a book of its own and The Great New Orleans Gun Grab is it. The stories are well told and the writing is excellent. I particularly liked the details of the people and neighborhoods involved in each incident. However, it is difficult for a gun owner to read the book without getting angry at the criminal behavior of those who were sworn to uphold the law.

The stories include:

• A lawyer disarmed and arrested supposedly for public intoxication at his home then pepper sprayed and repeatedly shot with beanbag rounds while in custody.
• Another lawyer and former Army officer used a 30-30 Winchester on a hoard of looters who broke into his backyard. He then had to protect his mother from police officers.
• A woman had to be protected by the 82nd Airborne from abusive cops.
• A frail, elderly woman who was disarmed, knocked to the ground and severely injured by several large police officers after they forced their way into her kitchen. This attack was seen on television around the world.
• Two cases of legally owned guns being seized at gunpoint from people on boats on Lake Pontchartrain by sheriff’s deputies.

In most cases the police officers were trying to force people to obey a “mandatory evacuation order.” The authors speculate that the real reason for trying to get many of these residents out of the city was to stop them from making critical comments to the news media about the incompetence of the authorities.

One of the most disturbing parts of the book is the epilogue. The attempt by the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation to stop the confiscations and get the illegally seized guns returned to their owners is called “The Second Battle of New Orleans.” The authors recount how lawyers for New Orleans first denied in federal court that the city had any seized firearms. After delaying and obfuscating for months, they admitted having more than 1,000 guns but when revealed, most were rusted beyond repair. Nearly three years later most of the firearms have not been returned to their owners.

As a result of the illegal gun confiscations, the Louisiana legislature passed a law that specifically prohibits law enforcement officers from seizing legally owned guns from law-abiding residents during emergencies such as hurricanes. Asked what he thought of the new law in a radio interview, the chief of the New Orleans police, Warren Riley, stated: “During circumstances like that, we cannot allow people to walk the streets carrying guns. As law-enforcement officers, we will confiscate the weapon if the person is walking down the street, and they may be arrested.”
So, despite the valiant work of the NRA and Second Amendment Foundation, is anything likely to be different next time a hurricane devastates New Orleans? We can only wait and see. Every gun owner should read this book.

Know the Laws and Stay Out of Jail

The Texas Gun Owner’s Guide
By Alan Korwin & Georgene Lockwood

$14.95 plus $4 shipping and in Texas $1.23 sales tax Buy Now!

The Texas Gun Owner’s Guide is a compilation of all the Texas laws affecting gun owners. The laws concerning gun ownership, possession and use are reprinted in the book, but more important, all the key laws and regulations are spelled out in plain English. If you own a gun, you need this book.

Approved by the Texas Department of Public Safety for use in concealed handgun license training.

“Comprehensive and well researched . . . bridges the gap between the complex laws and everyday life . . . of special value to residents who are applying for their concealed-handgun license.” — Jerry Patterson, former state senator who sponsored the Texas Concealed Handgun law

The Reference Book of
All Federal Firearms Laws

Gun Laws of America: Every Gun Law on the Books,
with Plain English Summaries.
By Alan Korwin, with Attorney Michael P. Anthony.

$19.95 plus $5 shipping and in Texas $1.65 sales tax Buy Now!

Like a complete gun-law library in your hand. The first and only completely unabridged compilation of federal gun laws – everything Congress has done on guns and the right to arms. Every law is described in plain English. It covers citizens, dealers, collectors, militia, National Guard, manufacturers, global disarmament, “proper” authorities, types of guns, the lost national right to carry, the National Transportation Guarantee, and much more – good laws, bad laws, 70 pages of juicy intro, along with plain English summaries.

“Outstanding . . . an important step toward protecting the republic.” — Bob Corbin, former Arizona Attorney General

“A whale of a good job . . . needed for a very long time.” — Joe Foss, statesman

“. . . a useful and unique piece of work.” — Stephen P. Halbrook, gun rights attorney

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