Timing is everything, and with the rant that follows, this is a subject that's bugged me ever since the NRA decided to mouth off about guns being confiscated in the aftermath of Katrina
The NRA likes to portray itself as an organization that helps protect us against an overzealous state intent on trampling the 2nd Amendment under jackboots galore, springing to fight at the first provocation
But, as with all the NRA's most cherished myths, reality paints a very different picture from what the organization pushes
Like this Administration's futile attempts at trying to rehabilitate it's rightfully-shattered image brought about by Katrina, the NRA is also engaging in a bit of easily-debunked spin as it relates to one of the most shameful incidents in US history
Gun Seized After Katrina? NRA Wants You
The National Rifle Association has hired private investigators to find hundreds of people whose firearms were seized by city police in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, according to court papers filed this week.
The NRA is trying to locate gun owners for a federal lawsuit that the lobbying group filed against Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley over the city's seizure of firearms after the Aug. 29, 2005, hurricane.
In the lawsuit, the NRA and the Second Amendment Foundation claim the city violated gun owners' constitutional right to bear arms and left them ``at the mercy of roving gangs, home invaders, and other criminals'' after Katrina.
Logic, logic, logic, a quality the NRA can't be accused of possessing in abundance, best shown by highlighting this
The NRA is trying to locate gun owners for a federal lawsuit that the lobbying group filed.....
With this
The NRA is asking for a delay in the trial, set to begin Feb. 19, saying they need more time to find gun owners.
D'OH!!!
Now, maybe it's just me, but shouldn't the NRA have had this information BEFORE it decided to file suit, and doesn't it seem self-defeating for the NRA to ask for a delay in the trial the NRA brought about?
But, lets revisit that whole "timing is everything" remark at the very start of this diary
Katrina hit the US on August 29, 2005
I remember on Sept 4, 2005 watching "The Newshour" on PBS, and during one of their Katrina spots, I was horrified to watch two burly males overpower an elderly woman, disarming her of a very old-looking .22 pistol, then leaving her unarmed afterwards
I was angry, as I don't agree with gutting any of the first 10 Amendments, even the Second-although I don't own a gun myself
And yet, while poor people were being forcibly disarmed, private armies and mercenaries, fully armed with automatic weapons, were allowed to wander New Orleans unmolested
The logical dichotomy was infuriating, it showed an acceptance towards tolerating a class-based distinction so glaring as to be blinding, overwhelming
And for days afterwards, I asked, at the Court TV forums, just where the hell the NRA was, this organization that claims to be the most stalwart defenders of our Constitution, well, it was M.I.A.
In fact, the organization was mute about this outrage, for over a week
Finally, on Sept 12, 2005, the NRA got around to decrying the forced disarmament of those at the bottom of the economic ladder in the Big Easy
Better late than never, I suppose, although, if the NRA had brought its voice to bear against this process when word of it became public, it could have minimized any damage that it's lawsuit is now showcasing
Why the silence from the NRA for 4 days after the NY Times published the following?
New Orleans Begins Confiscating Firearms as Water Recedes
NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 8 - 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.
The NRA's very tardy response indicates a very elitist mindset, as if it couldn't be bothered to actually stick up for the poor wanting the same rights the NRA uses to make a mint for itself
It's obvious that the NRA should never again be accorded ANY legitimacy on the issue of private gun ownership, as when it had the chance to possibly help stop a harsh policy that ended up hitting the poor the hardest, the NRA decided social status mattered more than doing the right thing, and since those who were poor probably couldn't spare the money needed to become dues-paying NRA members, then why bother staying ethically consistent and helping out a group dispossessed of all political power?
The NRA, staying cowardly quiet when it could have helped the most vulnerable among us, a charge it should never be allowed to escape, or live down