I respect your opinion but disagree.

yeah, its allowed. nothing personal...

I've always been of the opinion (and thats all it is) that its always ok to take guns away from criminals.

Since a number of 'citizens ' acquired their guns in New Orleans at a [ five finger ] discount at the local WalMart, I'm sure law abiding people would not fault the police for ' detaining ' any weapons found until such time as paperwork proving ownership could be obtained or other means of identifying ownership ascertained..[ of course this opens the question: criminal versus law abiding folks - assuming everyone guilty until otherwise proven innocent - but certainly understandable given the circumstances ]

Shooting at a rescue helicopter [ Gee, officer I thoughts it were a flyin' squirrel and I needed food ] would seem to be a dubious reason for championing the 2nd Amendment..

but then, I'm not American, so what do I know..

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I'm sure law abiding people would not fault the police for ' detaining ' any weapons found until such time as paperwork proving ownership could be obtained or other means of identifying ownership ascertained

How can they prove a gun is yours? There is no registry for rifles and shotguns. Only handguns are registered in most states. So they can't prove if your rifle is yours or not. The only way they can find stolen guns, is if they go to the stores the guns were stolen from, and get the log that has the serial numbers of all the guns that weren't sold and try to match them with confiscated guns. Then there is a problem of getting the guns back to the citizens. So unless they attach a tag to all the guns they take and give a receipt with all the tag numbers on them, whoever gets their guns confiscated won't get them back. Even if you did get a receipt, it could be months, even years before you get your guns back. They'll have to go through all the guns and match all serial numbers, this will be a time consuming and will require many man hours. And even after all of this, how do they even know that they will get the stolen guns. A criminal who knows that guns are being confiscated isn't going to give the police his stolen gun, LOLOLOLOLOL.

Also, law abiding citizens were not the ones shooting at the helicopters.

Also, disarming a law abiding citizen leaves them vulnerable to attack by the non-law abiding citizen. The police were not around when looters were breaking into businesses, it was armed citizens who prevented some businesses from being looted.

During the LA riots, it was also armed citizens that protected life and property.

This is one of the reasons we have a 2nd amendment, to protect ourselves when the police can't.

Seems like we share the same ideas and thoughts

So, since there's too much paperwork involved its not worth doing?

and..well.. I guess you solved the problem then, the cops ask the people to hand over the guns [ temporarily ].. the good citizens say ' yup' and are helpful [ now that they don't need them anymore since the police are back on the job -as the are the Army, Navy, Coast guard, National Guard CIA, FBI , DEA and whoever else Dubya could spare ] and the authorities are free to blast the crap out of those who refuse on the grounds that those must be looter/criminals bent on defying the law/obstructing justice..

sure..that'll work.. just fill out this form in triplicate...

paperwork - a bit disingenuous, don't you think? given that all records [ or a good part of them ] are clogging up the drains and floating in the sludge [ along with paperwork on just about everything else ]...

Since everyone is being shipped out of New Orleans there is no longer any need to ' defend ' the city from criminal elements by the righteous citizenry...hand over the guns or get arrested as a potential crook, not as if the good folk can't live without their 303 for a few months while rebruilding their homes, jobs, lives, etc. etc. priorities, maybe?

P.S. - just for my edification..

I thought the 2nd Amendment was to protect the citizenry from the possibility of a corrupt, autocratic government suppressing rights and freedoms and to counter ' demons' foreign and domestic..not so every United Statsian could channel john Wayne and sport the biggest f'n sidearm money could buy [ or steal ]...

Not to throw pansy European sensitivity in your faces but, the Swiss, gawdblessem, all are required to have guns, but you never hear of them blasting the sh*t out of each other or some such..

curious...

The weapons they were confiscating were from those that were being processed for evacuation. Would anyone here have allowed weapons on an aircraft, bus full of evacuee's? I seriously doubt it. Besides, getting out alive was the priority of the moment, having just lost all your property and worldly goods, the only real thing to worry about, is if they gave you a reciept for a frigging weapon? Gimme a break.

Can't live without that pistol. gotta have that pistol while I'm standing in line over at the Red Cross table.....an the soup line. (somebody might steal my crackers)

Question: read the Rules and such link...

This ' Militia ' thing?.. is that an authorized branch of the government [state/federal ] or are you just Boy Scouts with guns kind of thing - doing good deeds when needed but with back-up?

Miltias are not recognized by federal or states. They are a group of like minded citizens, exercising thier rights to assemble.

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Originally posted by Rocketeer:
Question: read the Rules and such link...

This ' Militia ' thing?.. is that an authorized branch of the government [state/federal ] or are you just Boy Scouts with guns kind of thing - doing good deeds when needed but with back-up?

The Militia is unregulated by state and federal governments, however if a militia unit is called upon by the state our federal government that unit will be in direct control of that state or federal agency. Militias must leave this option open to the state and federal governments rather they like it or not, refusing to do so may classify your unit as a private military force. Not a good tag to have in the US. Over the years some militias have tarnished the militia name by the lack of discipline and structure. However there are many militias in the US that have just the same or more military experience as your average US marine, I have served beside many alike to know this. Like our unit we are well disciplined, well structured and are trained by professionals. But in any you do have your boy scouts with guns that hold the title as militia's, we like to call them weekend warriors, not militias. If you would like to find out more on our Unit please visit our website.WVMSM

Ah... thanks.. so BS with guns, then... are the Merit Badges neat ., though?

Nice to see patriotism and altruism coming together..and a love for the taste of IMP's

Guess that puts you a bit above the Blackwater Boys who are only in it for the money...

still, security and last line of defence....

Just saw this being reported.....Blackwater boyz in New Orleans

Ollie's questions to the Mayor of New Orleans....and some others!

No wonder I like this guy.

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Can't live without that pistol. gotta have that pistol while I'm standing in line over at the Red Cross table.....an the soup line. (somebody might steal my crackers)

How can they forcefully make people leave their homes? Marshall Law has not been authorized. They can't lawfully kick you out of your home, unless marshall law is declared, and the last time marshall law was declared INCONUS was after the civil war. Hawaii being the exception (not conus) after Pearl Harbor was attacked.

If your home was on dry land, and you had supplies to last you for months (which was the case for a few people down there), would you leave? Knowing the police are not obligated to protect your property? Would you be willing to give away a $2,000 pistol, knowing you'll never get anything out of it in return if you knew there was a chance you would never get it back? I wouldn't.