May 22, 2020
For Immediate Release

GOA Speaks Out After “No-Knock” Raid Leaves Resident Dead, Officer Wounded

Springfield, VA — Gun Owners of America (GOA) Director of Outreach Antonia Okafor released the following statement after the Louisville Mayor announced changes that will better protect the rights of its citizens.

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer is now requiring additional precautions that will limit the future use of no-knock raids, provide greater transparency, and create a safer environment when serving warrants. Mayor Fischer announced these changes after a recent “no-knock” raid in the city left one officer wounded, a resident dead, and a gun owner who defended himself in police custody.

“GOA is pleased to see the Louisville Mayor responding to citizens’ concerns and changing police policies on serving warrants,” said Okafor. “This is a positive step toward helping protect honest citizens, including gun owners.”

Okafor continued, “GOA has long fought against the normalization and regular use of ‘no-knock’ raids for nonviolent offenses that can jeopardize innocent life. Long-time gun rights activists may remember GOA and Gun Owners Foundation’s amicus brief in Quinn v. Texas, where we challenged police for justifying their use of a ‘no-knock’ home invasion simply on the basis that the occupant owned a firearm.”

In Quinn v. Texas, John Quinn was asleep in his bed when Texas police broke down his door in the middle of the night, and shot him when he reached for a weapon, thinking his home was being invaded. The police were there to serve a search warrant for his son, Brian, who they knew was not at home at the time, but who they suspected of dealing drugs.

The only justification for the “no-knock” raid that police gave was that John Quinn owned a firearm. The police claimed that firearms ownership was enough to present a danger to law enforcement, even though they knew John Quinn had a concealed carry permit — meaning the state of Texas had pronounced him to be a safe, law-abiding citizen.

“No-knock” warrants were promised to be a rare “exception” to the common law requirement that police serving a warrant “knock and announce” themselves.  However, over the years, the “exception” has swallowed the rule. Americans should not have to live in constant apprehension that the police may decide to batter down their door in the middle of the night to serve warrants for relatively minor offenses, or simply because the police got the wrong address.

Okafor concluded:

“‘No-knock’ warrants have been known to needlessly put both law enforcement and honest citizens in harm’s way. And that is why this situation with Breonna Taylor and Kenneth Walker is such a tragic episode. As in the Quinn case, all peaceful gun owners — in all communities — have the right to defend themselves.”

Antonia Okafor, or another GOA spokesperson, is available for interviews. Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit grassroots lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over two million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Press Center.

Article by GOA