Instead of helping those who survived Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans Mayor Nagin and Police Superintendent Compass are yet again, adding to the problem. Cybercast News Service reports that many residents of New Orleans, whose homes totally escaped the devastation of both the hurricane and the ensuing flood, don't want to leave, for fear of losing everything that they have, to looters, once they are gone. Interestingly, many of those homeowners are armed and some have even used their guns to defend their property (see article). So, what is the response of this turn of events, by the mayor and police superintendent?
THEY ARE CONFISCATING ALL GUNS FROM LAW-ABIDING HOMEOWNERS, EVEN THOSE WHO HAVE STATE-ISSUED PERMITS FOR THOSE GUNS!
What's wrong with this picture?
The devastation is so vast, that as we have seen, with all of the New Orleans Police, Louisiana State Police, National Guard and other authorities in New Orleans, all of those agencies just cannot keep up with fighting crime, while attempting to evacuate those who still want to leave.
The Second Amendment was put into the Bill of Rights, to function largely as a last resort, so citizens would be guaranteed that they could protect their property, when all of the efforts of government failed to do that or when government itself, became a threat. Well, guess what? All of the efforts of government have failed to protect hundreds of buildings and homes from looters. We're not talking about a possibility. This has already happened and is still happening. This is one of the primary cases that the Second Amendment was designed to protect citizens against.
Mayor Nagin and Superintendent Compass totally failed in their duty to protect New Orleans most vulnerable residents. So now, because some more self-sufficient residents lived on higher ground and were able to protect what they own, Nagin and Compass want to take away the ability of those self-sufficient residents, to protect themselves and their property, thus insuring that they will lose all of what they have, too. That's typical liberal mindset. "If the poor lose everything, then the government should make sure that the rich and middle class lose everything, too."
The Mayor of New Orleans and the Police Superintendent are making the worst disaster that this nation has ever faced, even worse. If homeowners have food and water for an extended time, there is no reason for them to be forced out of the home that they are protecting or to take away their ability to protect themselves and their property. Having worked in New Orleans on occasion and knowing the temperament of many of their citizens, I would not be surprised to learn of New Orleans citizens being killed by police, who come for their guns and to force them out of their homes, in the near future. Of course, as we all know, the police will be doing this for the citizen's own protection, even though the citizen ends up dead.
I'll close by asking this question. How do the authorities propose to allow people back into New Orleans, when the city is completely evacuated, without creating an enormous looting problem in the still mostly unoccupied homes and businesses? After all, half a million people aren't just going to magically appear back in their homes all at one time. It will take weeks - weeks during which many of the early returnees will have to loot the homes and businesses of those who have not yet returned.
Uncommon insight into common issues. Constitutional conservative commentary on issues of the day, without the bias of the often less than conservative GOP leadership.
1 comment:
Actually, I do agree with plesitox. I can't imagine anyone who cared about their possessions, living in a flood prone city.
This is one thing that bothers me about our national flood insurance program. We have thousands of people who live, not only in the 100 year flood plane, but in the one year flood plane, who continue to collect on national flood insurance every year or two. I agree with the idea of flood insurance, though I strongly disagree with making it available to anyone who lives in the 100 year flood plane or at least, with allowing claims against it more often than once every five or ten years.
The point is that these people live there (whether by choice or by chance) and now their government is telling them that they are not allowed to protect themselves and their belongings, with a gun.
Interestingly, as I write this, I am waiting for my power to go out and my Internet to go down, from the effects of Hurricane Rita. As I watch the smoothness of the preparations for Rita, I am reminded of the almost total lack of preparations by New Orleans and Louisiana, for the approach of Katrina.
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