Is this what you want America to look like during major disasters?
The Houston Chronicle reports that "Paramedics became alarmed by the sight of residents with guns. The evacuation of fragile refugees, who were supposed to be airlifted to the Astrodome, ground to a halt when medical personnel received reports of gunfire.... Richard Zuschlag, chief of Acadian Ambulance, said it had become too dangerous for his pilots. Zeuschlag said paramedics were calling him and crying for help because they were so scared of people with guns at the Superdome. He also said that during the night, when a medical evacuation helicopter tried to land at a hospital in the outlying town of Kenner, the pilot reported 100 people were on the landing pad, some with guns. "He was frightened and would not land,'' Zeuschlag.
"New Orleans' homeland security chief, Terry Ebbert, said looters were breaking into stores all over town and stealing guns. He said there are gangs of armed men moving around the city. At one point, officers stranded on the roof of a hotel were fired at by people on the street. Authorities said another officer was shot in the head and a looter was wounded in a shootout. Both were expected to survive. There are physical threats to safety from roving bands of armed individuals with weapons who are threatening the safety of the hospital,'' spokesman Steven Campanini said."
The Houston Chronicle
CNN reports that Boat rescue teams looking for Katrina survivors told CNN they had been ordered to stand down Thursday by FEMA officials concerned about security. However, FEMA issued a statement from Washington denying that it had suspended operations, though the agency conceded that there had been "isolated incidents where security has become an issue." At the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Canal Street, Phyllis Patrick said she and other hotel guests were in "dire straits." The hotel has been trying to bring in buses to evacuate them, but she said the Federal Emergency Management Agency "will not let them in. I don't believe that we have very much food left at all. We had no lunch today. All we're being given is a glass of water," she said.
People are hot in more ways than one. People are starving. Police stations are under siege: one with a sign posted "Fort Apache." Gangs of young men are hot and angry about years of neglect (real or perceived) and the current feeling that they have been left to die in this dying city. I would guess that some have probably escaped from flooded jail and mental health facilities and it seems likely that some have lost psychiatric medication that they should be taking. Those who did not already have guns are looting guns and ammunition from stores.
NRA Members: There is blood on your NRA card today.
It's time for some serious gun control in all of our cities. It's time for trigger locks that can be opened only by the owner and not by a looter. It's time for very through background checks on ever gun purchaser. It's time for limits on the number and type of guns sold in our country. It's time for gun shops to be held responsible for proliferation. Gun shops should be required to store guns and ammunition in heavy duty safes that cannot be looted.
I wonder if there are NRA members among the good people in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Canal Street who are out of food but can't get on a bus because the bus might be attached by gun wielding gangs. Fires are starting break out and there is no water pressure to fight them. I tremble thinking how easy it would be for the spread of the current infernos or arson to bring fire to hotels like the Ritz.
If you are an NRA member, I ask you if you want armed gangs hijacking rescue attempts when disaster comes to your hometown.
It's time for the NRA to support responsible legislation.