Simply put, it’s happened before. Right here in the good ol’ U. S. of A. I realize that this video comes to us, courtesy of the NRA, who can hardly be held as a standard of neutrality on this issue. But the facts are there – post Katrina, the New Orleans police rounded up legally-owned guns, and kept them. They left thousands of law-abiding homeowners and citizens completely defenseless. Think about that, the next time someone tells you how ridiculous it is to think that the government would ever try and confiscate firearms.
I can’t see youtube at work, so I’ll have to watch the video this evening. I was trying to find an article wherein some of the people that were able to keep their guns shot at any black people they saw, and later bragged about it being like pheasant shooting.
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090105/thompson?rel=hp_picks
While I was searching, I ran across Katrina/Gorillas in the Mist T-Shirts available from the white supremacy org, Stormfront.
Are you trying to justify a city wide gun grab due to an incident (or incidents) in a single neighborhood?
I read that entire article. If it’s true, it’s disgusting, obviously, and criminal. That’s not reason to grab guns. Especially considering these allegations came out years after Katrina and the gun grab was proclaimed immediately.
Also, it should come as no surprise that admitted racists sell racists shirts. Still has nothing to do with guns.
The video here is disgusting as well. An old lady holding a revolver by the cylinder is tackled and punched. Illegal seizures by state forces. What if instead of taking guns, they were cutting off internet or telephone access or something along those lines. Or taking away computers so no one could type up their thoughts?
You’ve managed to completely miss my point. Of course, I’m starting from a perspective that (as the Supreme Court reaffirmed in Heller) that individual citizens have the right to own guns. I suspect that your perspective is vastly different.
I do not doubt, nor do I contest, that there were a great many problems in the New Orleans area, post-Katrina – problems that resulted in situations that were well outside the law. From what I’ve read, heard, and studied, there were looters and thugs, as well as vigilantes and honest citizens just trying to keep their homes and possessions intact. In order to Keep 2nd Amendment rights intact, you will necessarily run into situations where the law is abused, bent or broken. That’s true with any law. You’ll always find people – on both sides – that will spin it, stretch it, and abuse it past the breaking point. But to insist that the people of New Orleans had no right to keep guns to defend their property because a bunch of redneck thugs decided to take the law into their own hands is a ridiculous argument.
What about the documented cases where policemen walked off the job – and in some cases participated in the looting? How do you defend against that? Do you simply hope that no one will bother you? I think not. Certainly roving bands of white supremacists is bad, and resulted in criminal behavior on their part. And I’m sure there are dozens of cases you can cite where armed homeowners shot someone who was not intent on breaking in or doing them harm. But for every case like that, there are dozens of cases where homeowners successfully defended their lives and property, and would have most likely died had they not been armed.
My point is that our Constitution specifically guarantees us the right to self-defense, and the right to own firearms to accomplish this. So says the Supreme Court. You may argue that this is an antiquated approach, or that it results in needless bloodshed. I disagree with you, but will defend your right to disagree with me. But the simple fact I was pointing out is that the concept of government confiscation of guns is not a foreign concept to our shores. It happened right here in Louisiana. It could happen again, without enough people willing to stand up and stop it. Argue if you like, about the wisdom of the law. But it IS the law. And as long as we are a nation of laws, and do not live by the rule of men, the government MUST follow the law.
I haven't missed your point, and it would make my blood boil if armed "police" invaded my house like that. My point is that what happened in Alden Point is essentially the same thing as what you described. Once there was a crisis, the constitution and the rule of law went out the window and all that mattered was who had superior firepower.
And essentially no one has been punished for it.
I believe the real value of the 2nd Amendment comes at just such a time when there is a crisis and the rule of law momentarily goes out the window. Following the same logic that states “locks keep honest people honest,” In times of peace, police (usually) deter (most) crimes. In times of crisis, chaos gets the upper hand, and the police are largely powerless to help. THAT is when you need the protection of the 2nd Amendment, not to mention a firearm. Crises bring out the worst – and best – in mankind. Without the ability to defend ourselves from the worst, we’d seldom see the best.
And I agree, that those that committed crimes during Katrina should be punished, no matter what their race, creed, color, or national origin. Justice is blind. Sadly, these days, she’s also deaf.
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