First take away their guns.... : "Waters were receding across this flood-beaten city today as police officers began confiscating weapons, including legally registered firearms, from civilians in preparation for a mass forced evacuation of the residents still living here. No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns or other firearms, said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police. 'Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons,' he said.But that order apparently does not apply to hundreds of security guards hired by businesses and some wealthy individuals to protect property. The guards, employees of private security companies like Blackwater, openly carry M-16's and other assault rifles. Mr. Compass said that he was aware of the private guards, but that the police had no plans to make them give up their weapons." (Hat Tip: Digital Irony)


Mississippi: If you try to loot, he will shoot: "From beneath a blue pillow on the tan striped couch he had slept on for the past week, Paul Marsh pulled out a black Walther PPK .380 handgun. 'We haven't had a problem with looters, but the clip is already loaded,' he said, pointing the barrel of the gun away from us and at a far wall lined with cowboy hats. There's about a half-million dollars' worth of merchandise in Rodeo's Boot Outlet in Gulfport, Miss., which Marsh's family has owned for the past 10 years. And he plans on keeping it safe, as evidenced by the cardboard sign -- Owner Inside With Gun in black spray-painted letters -- propped up in rubble from the destroyed front wall."



Mississippi:Picking up pieces in land laid bare: "David Vickers rode out the storm with his family in their six-year-old condominium, shielded by aluminum hurricane shutters. He used another kind of protection to save his truck?s gasoline and to scare away squatters. 'I came home and these guys were siphoning gas from my truck,' said Vickers, 44, a restaurant owner. 'I cussed them like the dogs they were and then I pulled out my pistol -- and I cocked it.'"



It takes a pillage: "If ever there was an event which solidified the relevancy of the 2nd Amendment, it was the recent sacking of New Orleans. As we witnessed, a large segment of our population is just looking for an excuse to resort to savagery. Thank God our Constitution provides the right to 'keep and bear arms' in the face of such barbarism. ... The looting and violence which took place in New Orleans should be a wake-up call to all law abiding Americans. Disasters (natural and man-made) can occur anywhere. We must all be prepared to defend our families and our property in times of such turmoil. Once the winds lessen, and the flood waters subside, or the ground stops shaking -- a more ruthless adversary may darken your doorway."