Local Government Violates Second Amendment Rights In New Orleans

The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is the bedrock of our free society. When a society is not free to “keep and bear arms” then they in effect become slaves of the government. There has been a great deal of debate in the past about what the Amendment means but it is obvious that the phrase “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” means that the people (the citizens of the US) have a right that is not to be taken away. Unfortunately, in the anarchy that followed hurricane Katrina, the government seized firearms belonging to law abiding citizens.

This decision was made by local government officials:

According to The New York Times, the New Orleans superintendent of police directed that no civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to have guns and that “only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons.” ABC News quoted New Orleans’ deputy police chief, saying, “No one will be able to be armed. We are going to take all the weapons.”

This police officer had no authority to take such an action and when he did he violated the rights if the citizenry. The law abiding citizens of New Orleans had only their weapons to protect them in the aftermath when looting and other crimes were rampant. They had no other means because the police could not protect them. The police, those who remained, were busy taking care of other emergencies thus leaving citizens to protect themselves from armed thugs. By taking the weapons the police screwed people twice. Once by not protecting them and once by keeping them from protecting themselves.

The National Rifle Association has filed a lawsuit to stop the illegal seizure of the weapons belonging to law abiding citizens:

“New Orleans is the first city in the United States to forcibly disarm peaceable law-abiding citizens and it must be the last. Victims are dealing with a complete breakdown of government. At a time when 911 is non-operational and law enforcement cannot respond immediately to calls for help, people have only the Second Amendment to protect themselves, their loved ones and their property,” said NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre.

I have not seen a great deal of media attention on this issue. You can bet if they stopped some jackass from burning a Flag or some newspaper from printing an article there would be cries about Freedom of Speech. Hell, the media was crying about Freedom of Speech when they were not allowed to show dead bodies floating around New Orleans.

Without the right to keep and bear arms there is no right to free speech, nor any other right for that matter. It is disheartening that the public and the media would ignore such a blatant violation of the rights of our citizens. I can not speak for the law abiding citizens of New Orleans but as for me, they can have mine when they pry it out of my dead hand.

Read the issue here.

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