Guardsmen have been sent to New Orleans again.
In a nutshell Nagin & Riley think they need help to handle the crime that's going on there. Nagin called the governor & she's sending in the troops. I'm concerned that some idiot with a badge is going to start stealing people's firearms again.
Some numbers:
"The killings brought this year's murder toll to 53, raising fears that violence was back on the rise in a city that was plagued by violent crime before Katrina drove out much of the population last year."
"The police force has been operating with depleted ranks. It has about 1,375 officers, compared with about 1,750 before Katrina. The city's pre-Katrina population of 465,000 has rebounded to about half its size."
Both of those are from the above linked story. Here's a news story from last year pre-Katrina. & from that one we find:
"Homicides hit their historic peak here in 1994, with 421 dead — more per capita than any other U.S. city that year. Within just five years, the number was slashed by nearly two-thirds, to 159, as homicides plummeted nationally.
Back up to 265 last year
But by last year, the number in New Orleans had crept back up to 265. There had been 192 this year by mid-August, compared with 169 at the same time in 2004. Adjusted for the city’s size, those numbers dwarf murder rates in Washington, Detroit, Baltimore, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City."
So if we double the number of homicides in New Orleans this year we get 103. That'd be the lowest number they've had in years.
A police force of 1,375 to serve half the residents a 1,750 person police force did . 75% of the police force to deal with 50% of the population. That doesn't seem like a manpower crisis, it seems like an improvement.
I understand 5 teenagers killed in a single incident is a very tragic thing. I also understand that given the likely motive of the killers (either drugs or revenge as assumed by the police) that these things unfortunately happen.
So what it seems like to me is that Nagin & Riley are panicking & the governor is going along with them. Normally it wouldn't be a big deal unless you're an effected taxpayer but what happened in September is not faded enough from my mind for me to feel comfy about things down there.
Riley said recently he'd take away people's guns if an emergency came up. He said this after the governor signed a law prohibiting any government agents in Louisiana from taking folks' guns in an emergency. He retracted his statement a short time later but I doubt his sincerity.
So watch New Orleans over the next few days or weeks. Hopefully I'm just being paranoid for no reason.
To give some background on my concerns:
Nah, They Wouldn't Cause That'd Be Illegal
Of Constitutions, Laws & Emergency Powers
New Orleans Restraining Order & The NRA
GOA's New Orleans Gun Confiscation Page
Cramer Has A Copy Of The NO Injunction... from Triggerfinger
Lawsuit filed! from the Liberty Zone (though outside of New Orleans it was in Louisiana & has some relevance)
We're The Only Ones from The Liberty Zone
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco Signs NRA-Backed Emergency Powers Protection Act - NRA-ILA Press Release
"No one will be able to be armed. Guns will be taken. Only law enforcement will be allowed to have guns." New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass on September 8th of 2005.
Might? Might? Gee, let's review the facts.
Nagin and his krewe of kriminals STEAL over a THOUSAND weapons. There are NO arrests. There is NO investigation by the grand jury. But TWO so-called "gun rights" organizations "negotiate" the return of the stolen weapons so long as the OWNERS of these STOLEN weapons agree to submit to a blatantly unconstitutional BACKGROUND CHECK. Hmmmmmmmm, wonder what are the odds of a repeat performance?