JURIST - Paper Chase: FEMA reconsidering gun ban in emergency Louisiana housing parks

[JURIST] The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [official website] said Wednesday that it was reconsidering a ban on firearms for people living at emergency housing parks [FEMA news release] in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] after being pressured by gun-rights groups. FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney said attorneys were taking another look at the rules to determine whether they are legal. The dispute arose last week as the first major temporary shelter park made up of 600 trailers opened outside of Baton Rouge. FEMA said that its standard policy was to prohibit guns at emergency housing parks anywhere in the country, but the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) [advocacy websites] have both threatened legal action over the ban. Both groups successfully challenged the confiscation of weapons [JURIST report] in New Orleans following Katrina. Read the SAF news release. AP has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...