The Gun Shots blog over at Outdoorlife is reporting this observation from Devline Rossell who was shopping in New Orleans for supplies in preparation for Gustav:

I just left a sporting goods store and you would think that the number-one selling item would be plywood or potable water or gasoline right now,” he said. “Apparently it is AR-15s and .223 ammo. I watched at least 20 people buy AR-15s and cases of .223

Looks like the people of New Orleans learned their lesson from Katrina.

Hat Tip to The Firing Line

This good news comes from The Second Amendment Foundation:

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana this afternoon issued a temporary restraining order on behalf of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and National Rifle Association (NRA), bringing an end to firearm seizures from citizens living in and around New Orleans.

District Judge Jay Zainey issued the restraining order against all parties named in a lawsuit filed Thursday by SAF and NRA. Defendants in the lawsuit include New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Chief Edwin Compass III.

“This is a great victory, not just for the NRA and SAF, but primarily for law-abiding gun owners everywhere,” said SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb. “We are proud to have joined forces with the NRA to put an end to what has amounted to a warrantless gun grab by authorities in New Orleans and surrounding jurisdictions.

“Over the past three weeks,” he continued, “residents who had lost virtually everything in the devastation following Hurricane Katrina had also essentially been stripped of something even more precious, their civil rights, and their right of self-defense, because of these gun seizures.

“SAF and NRA had no alternative but to take action,” Gottlieb added. “If these gun confiscations had been allowed to continue without challenge, it would have set a dangerous precedent that would have encouraged authorities in other jurisdictions to believe they also could suspend the civil rights of citizens in the event of some other emergency.

“What must happen now, and quickly,” said Gottlieb, “is for authorities in the New Orleans area to explain how they will return all of those firearms to their rightful owners, and do it promptly. What this ruling affirms is that even in the face of great natural disasters, governments cannot arbitrarily deprive citizens of their rights. Thanks to some great teamwork between SAF and the NRA, this sort of thing will hopefully never happen again.”

The Second Amendment Foundation is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers & an amicus brief & fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.

I support private donations to organizations like the Salvation Army to help out the survivors of natural disasters. But I really have problems when the Federal Government starts to dole out billions of our tax dollars. See my previous post concerning the Tsunami relief. And Professor Williams’ take on the subject.

When the government takes our tax money it is under threat of imprisonment, enforced at the barrel of a gun. Taxation is a necessary evil and should in all cases be as limited as possible. Ripping 200 billion out of the hands of taxpayers and redistributing it to other people who have not earned it is immoral. Calling it charity is downright insane. If I want to help my fellow citizens I am fully capable of donating to causes that I know will get the money to where it is needed most, not filtered through an inefficient bureaucracy.

In one of his recent columns the professor points out the lunacy coming from some so called economists -

According to a couple of poorly trained economists, there’s a bright side to Hurricane Katrina’s destruction. J.P. Morgan senior economist Anthony Chan believes hurricanes tend to stimulate overall growth. As reported in “Gas Crisis Looms” (Aug. 31, 2005), written by CNN/Money staff writer Parija Bhatnagar, Mr. Chan said, “Preliminary estimates indicate 60 percent damage to downtown New Orleans. Plenty of cleanup work and rebuilding will follow in all the areas. That means over the next 12 months, there will be lots of job creation which is good for the economy.”

The Federal Government’s role in this recovery should be limited to their scope of operations — repairing their buildings, roads, etc. Not handing out our money to people who insist on living below sea level without adequate protection. I’ve said that New Orleans should be left to sink, and nothing I’ve seen changes my mind. But if the citizens of that city want to rebuild they have every right to do so — but without tax money ripped from my pocket by the feds. Their local and state government failed them when the hurricane hit, they ought to be asking them how they will help them rebuild, not the rest of the country.

This comes from Ian over at Claire Wolfe’s blog. The cops in New Orleans are disarming citizens trying to protect their homes — and here is the video footage to prove it. Howbdo they expect these people to protect their property when they move on to the next neighborhood? Or is it a nefarious plan to disarm them and therefore force them to leave? The houses they showed looked pretty dry and in pretty good condition. Now that looters know that the remaining citizens are disarmed they will have free roam of the remainder of the city.

Amazingly enough the New York Times has taken notice but without comment. According to their article private citizens are being disarmed, but not private security guards hired by businesses and wealthy citizens. Seems to me there’s a shitload of discrimination going on here — private citizens who can’t afford to hire a security company damn well ought to be allowed to protect their proprty and family with more than a baseball bat and harsh language.

Now is as good a time as any to rethink your disaster preparedness. Here is what Claire Wolfe has in her bug-Out Bag. If you have more good resources, send ‘em to me and we’ll start a list. The contents of your bag will depend on your personal situation and surroundings, so its better to pick and choose from a variety of ideas than just to copy the contents of one individual’s bag.

Surviving a disaster like Katrina is one damn good reason to have firearms at your disposal. Here is just one of what I’m sure are many stories unfolding across the gulf coast area:

Managers at a nursing home were prepared to cope with the power outages and had enough food for days, but then the looting began. The home’s bus driver was forced to surrender the vehicle to carjackers.

Bands of people drove by the nursing home, shouting to residents, “Get out!” Eighty residents, most of them in wheelchairs, were being evacuated to other nursing homes in the state.

“We had enough food for 10 days,” said Peggy Hoffman, the home’s executive director. “Now we’ll have to equip our department heads with guns and teach them how to shoot.”

From New Orleans Police Ordered to Halt Looting, thanks to Michelle Malkin

Here’s a good place to keep track of your fellow citizens defending themselves.

Americans are a giving people. We go to far away places to liberate people who would rather kill us. We give our hard earned dollars to help people in foreign lands who are affected by disasters. Now its time to help our friends and neighbors here at home. The news isn’t doing the devastation justice and the MSM is focusing on New Orleans. The devastation there is immense, but there are hundreds of surrounding cities and towns that are just as devastated and in need of help.

Give what you can to the Salvation Army, they have a history of making sure your money gets to the people who need it.

Inspired by Hugh Hewitt there will be Katrina Relief Blogging all day on 9/1, readers are urged to contribute to favorite charities (mine is The Salvation Army and to link their own blogs to the Truth Laid Bear Page.

Also link to flood aid, hurricane katrina.

Here are some humbling pictures of damage in Plaquemines and Jefferson Parish

The liberal nutburgers over at moveon.org have actually started something good – Hurricane Housing, offers of housing for refugees from the hurricane.