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Online Dialog Forum -> Blog / News forum -> We don't need no stinkin' Bill of Rights!!!
Post Info TOPIC: We don't need no stinkin' Bill of Rights!!!
Scott Leffler


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We don't need no stinkin' Bill of Rights!!!
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One of the areas where I vehmently disagree with "my party" is on the 2nd Amendment. I think it's incredibly uncomplicated; "American citizens have a right to own weapons." Others think it's much more complex and only certain types of weapons are allowed ... at certain times of day ... with restrictions ... waiting periods ... and maybe (preferably) a note from God. I believe that guns don't kill people, incompetant federal beuracracy kills people. And Larry and Erich Pratt agree.

Larry was a guest on Dialog back in March (podcast link)

I got an email from their group, Gun Owners of America. The text was as follows:

LOOTERS, MUGGERS AND MURDERERS FREE TO KEEP THEIR ILLEGAL GUNS Law Abiding Citizens of New Orleans Denied Guns

FIRST, THE VALIANT NEWS:

In the wake of widespread lootings and home invasions in New Orleans, there have been reports of valiant men and women who defended themselves against opportunist, armed intruders and looters to protect what little they had, against the criminal thugs who had been released from the prisons.

Hey, hey, let’s hear it for the U.S. Constitutional Right to Bear Arms! Chalk one up for the good guys! They thwarted off hardened criminals who were released from prison, roaming the streets robbing and pillaging! These men and women of valor protected their friends, family and neighbors when police were no where to be found!

NOW THE OUTRAGEOUS NEWS:

"Simply outrageous!”, was the reaction from Erich Pratt, Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America, after learning that the city of New Orleans had begun confiscating legally-owned firearms from its residents, stripping them of their right of self defense from law-abiding citizens.

“Simply outrageous!” (It bears repeating) Now in New Orleans, only criminals are allowed to bear arms!!!

"By what authority can the mayor order these confiscations?" Pratt said. "You can't legitimately suspend the God-given rights of American citizens who have committed no crimes.

"These confiscations will not make the people of New Orleans any safer.
Privately owned firearms were the only thing which prevented good people from becoming victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when few policemen were to be found anywhere in the city.

"Unfortunately, we have yet to learn the lessons from previous dark episodes in our recent history," Pratt said. "We need to remember those lessons, such as the riots of Los Angeles more than a decade ago."

For several days in 1992, Los Angeles was in complete turmoil as stores were looted and burned. Motorists were dragged from their cars and beaten. As in New Orleans, police in L.A. were very slow in responding to the crisis. Many Guardsmen, after being mobilized to the affected areas, sat by and watched the violence because their rifles were low on ammunition.

"But not everybody in Los Angeles suffered," Pratt said. "In some of the hot spots, Korean merchants were able to successfully protect their stores with semi-automatic firearms. In areas where armed citizens banded together for self-protection, their businesses were spared while others -- which were left unprotected. -- burned to the ground."

Interestingly, press reports in the aftermath of the riots described how life-long gun control supporters were running to gun stores to buy an item they never thought they would need -- a gun.

Tragically, they were surprised (and outraged!) to learn there was a 15-day waiting period upon firearms.

"Will we never learn?" Pratt asked. "It is a fact that firearms save millions of lives every year. So if Mayor Ray Nagin really wanted to help the decent citizens of New Orleans, he would be issuing law abiding citizens firearms instead of taking them away. Nagin's actions will put people in further jeopardy -- and if one citizen dies in New Orleans because he was deprived of the ability to defend himself or his family, there will be blood on the Mayor’s hands."

The question is: Mr. Mayor, if a mother or father dies because of your unconscionable confiscation: Will you take the responsibility to take care of the orphaned children and raise them as your own?

ABOUT LARRY AND ERICH PRATT…
Larry Pratt is founder and Executive Director of Gun Owners of America and is available for interviews immediately.

Erich Pratt is the Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America and is available for immediate interviews.

Gun Owners of America is a national gun lobby with over 300,000 members located at 8001 Forbes Place, Springfield, VA 22151 and at http://www.gunowners.org on the web.

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Mindcrime


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Scott Leffler wrote:

Interestingly, press reports in the aftermath of the riots described how life-long gun control supporters were running to gun stores to buy an item they never thought they would need -- a gun. Tragically, they were surprised (and outraged!) to learn there was a 15-day waiting period upon firearms.


This sounds like another case of the citizens being unprepared, that's all. I'm ready not just for blizzards or tornados, but riots and civil chaos as well.


While I don't believe in abolishing the 2nd Amendment, I do believe some restrictions make sense. There is no reason you couldn't defend your family or business with a semi-automatic weapon. You don't need full-auto machine pistols, grenade launchers or LAW rockets to ward off looters. You can do that with a potato gun and some harsh language. Military weapons were not designed to hunt deer, they were meant for people. It seems unreasonable to feel the need to be equally armed (or better armed) than police officers. Of course, to impose these types of restrictions, you first have to admit your trust in the police and the federal government, and I just don't have that either. I'm a fence sitter on this one, but I prefer to have the choice of whether to own a gun or not.



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Never criticize someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes. That way, when you DO criticize them, you are a mile away, and you have their shoes... If you choose any truth and follow it blindly, it becomes a falsehood, and you, a fanatic.
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