Hurricane Katrina and the Second Amendment

Much has already been said about the dismal response of local, state and federal authorities in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and the terrible suffering that tens of thousands of people are enduring as a result. I don't intend to add to that thread. Instead, what has struck me about this disaster is that it has demonstrated what Second Amendment defenders have been saying for years:

The government and the police cannot protect you.

Reliance on government and police power is the standard line of so-called "gun control" enthusiasts. This is a lie even under the best of circumstances. (Here's a link to a site with some excellent information on the subject.)

But post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans proves that when the most basic infrastructure - i.e., government - is gone, you'd better have a way to protect and defend yourself, your loved ones, and your property, because otherwise, you'll just be a statistic.

The armed lowlifes that are preying on the sick, the weak, the homeless and isolated are not even deterred by common decency in the face of widespread suffering. They thrive on chaos. They are firing at police, at National Guardsmen, at rescue helicopters, at food and relief vehicles, at the hundreds of ordinary folk who showed up in their own boats to help transport victims. Does anyone seriously think that these creeps will pay attention to gun control laws?

Of course not.

I have family and friends in New Orleans, and they are all saying the same thing: The media is not telling you how bad it really is down here. And they are not referring to the heat, the lack of basic services, the fetid water, the corpses floating in it, and the alligators. (Although I don't think the media is talking about the alligators much, either.)

They are talking about the armed gangs - the would-be looters, rapists and murders who have come out in the dark like roaches in the absence of police, electricity, and alarms. New Orleans has become a third-world country. Ordinary folk have taken to defending their homes and neighborhoods with guns. In sections of New Orleans and the surrounding suburbs where the flooding has not been as bad, residents have stayed in or returned to their homes and posted signs on them: You loot - we shoot. And they do. Stories like the one Mona Charen recounts are popping up everywhere. Can you imagine what it would be like if the citizens of New Orleans could not defend themselves?

Watching this unfold, I could not help but think -- If Osama bin Laden and his cronies are smart - and I think they are - they are saying to themselves, "We don't need to destroy their country. We just need to knock out a few basic city services. And then we can just sit back and watch while they destroy themselves."

Gun control advocates - wake up. And those of you who believe that there is a reason the Second Amendment protects citizens' right to bear arms, you'd better speak up. As New Orleans goes, so goes the rest of the nation.