As the city of New Orleans descended into chaos in the days following Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans police officers seized hundreds of guns-- from alleyways, abandoned houses and from people seeking to board rescue vehicles.

More than three years later, several hundred of those guns still remain in the NOPD's possession.

"We always wanted to return these guns," said Chief Deputy City Attorney Nolan Lambert. "We have possession of all these guns and we don't want to continue holding them if they belong to someone else."

It's a return policy that may be one step closer to reality now. After initially filing a federal lawsuit over the gun seizures, the National Rifle Association says they have reached a tentative agreement with the city that would return those seized guns to their owners.

"There were looters running rampant across the city and this was a time when the people needed their firearms and the city should not have been in the business of taking these guns," said Dan Holliday, attorney for the NRA and Second Amendment Foundation.

The NRA claims the NOPD is still in possession of more than 450 guns. In the spring of 2006, dozens of gun owners attempted to re-claim those guns. Problem was, few had the documentation needed to prove they owned the gun.

"Any receipts that were in existence, more than likely, were flooded by the storm," Holliday said.

Before a gun can be returned to its owner, the agreement requires a background check and a signed affidavit, along with a less stringent proof of ownership than was previously required.

"You have to come and show some condition of ownership," Lambert said. "Not necessarily a bill of sale, but something like, 'I had this gun and here's a picture of it,' or 'these are the markings on the gun. Do you have one back there with these specific markings?' Things along that line."

The settlement comes just before the lawsuit was set to go to trial next month. It still needs to be approved by a federal judge.