The Democrat Mayor of New Orleans signed an emergency order last week that could give her office the authority to bar the sales and transportation of firearms in the city amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The declaration, according to Breitbart, stated that Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s office will have the power to restrict gun sales and can, if necessary, “suspend or limit the sale of alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives and combustibles.”
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Gun sales across the U.S. have seen a dramatic increase since the coronavirus outbreak took hold. Many gun store workers point to the public’s fear of a possible government Second Amendment overreach as the likely cause for the spike.
Breitbart reported that the Second Amendment Foundation blasted Cantrell’s declaration and said the group would sue the city as it did after Hurricane Katrina when then-Mayor Ray Nagin began confiscating firearms “from law-abiding citizens for no good reason.”
“We sued New Orleans then, and we’ll do it again. The presence of a nasty disease does not suspend any part of the Bill of Rights, no matter what some municipal, state or even federal politician may think,” the statement obtained by Breitbart said.
Cantrell is not the first city official to put gun sales into a coronavirus-aimed declaration.
Deborah Frank Feinen, the Democrat mayor from Champaign, through a spokesman, said her executive order “allows the city to be flexible to properly respond to the emergency needs of our community.”
These orders include banning firearms sales and the sale of any alcohol.
The spokesman said that the options might not be implemented, but they are helpful for the city to have at its disposal.
Greg Richardson, the manager of Classic Arms of Memphis, one of the Mid-South’s most popular gun shops, told the “Todd Starnes Radio Show” Monday that he is not surprised about the demand. Whenever there is a national crisis and there’s a possibility that the government may act on limiting gun sales, he pointed out.
“It has just not stopped since the beginning of last week,” Richardson said on Monday. He noticed a significant uptick in sales late last week and the trend continued at pace. He said some people are buying their normal few boxes for target practice, but others are stockpiling with thousands of rounds.