fossten
Dedicated LVC Member
www.sierratimes.com/05/09/22/64_85_255_39_21190.htm
A Cautionary Tale
Henry Bowman
Something happened in New Orleans during the course of dealing with Hurricane Katrina that is being ignored by the mainstream press, and yet is as chilling as anything that has been reported: The police commissioner ordered the door-to-door confiscation of private firearms from law-abiding citizens, stating that only "law enforcement" would be allowed to possess arms.
Ignoring for a moment the fact that this is exactly what happened in Nazi Germany, the nullification of the Second Amendment by unlawful bureaucratic fiat is a matter as ominous as anything that has happened in this nation since 9/11. The crowning insult of this action is that it came at a time of greatest need for the citizens of New Orleans to be capable and prepared to protect their homes and persons -- one of the circumstances for which the Second Amendment was specifically designed. This outrage cannot be allowed to pass unchallanged, and must NEVER AGAIN be allowed to occur, because to do so is to turn down a one-way street so narrow as to preclude ever turning back around again.
Think of the loss of personal arms as analogous to allowing a camp fire to die down during a cold night because the person charged with tending it has gone to sleep. If he, or anyone else in camp, should awaken in time to pile more wood on the fire and stoke it back to life, then all will be well. But if the awakening doesn't come until after the last ember has gone out, it won't matter how much tinder or wood, or gasoline for that matter, is heaped on the now dead fire; there will be no more warmth forthcoming.
I would urge each and every one of us to spread the word about what happened to the Second Amendment in New Orleans, and to insist that all freedom-loving and Constitution-respecting people see this event as an absolute and irrevocable line in the sand. It may be that some few of us will have to fill the role of martyrs in the months ahead to convince those in power that we are serious about retaining this most important freedom; if so, so be it. Several years ago I published a paper in which the following lines appeared, indicating my personal intentions if and when the day arrives that I face one of the proverbial jack-booted thugs who's come for my guns. Emulate and amend it to suit your own circumstances or not, as you see fit:
"Before you take one step into my home, officer (or deputy) __________, I have a statement to make which you need to hear.
"I am sixty-four years old; I have no wife, no children, and little or no prospects for the future. My daily routine might best be described by the vernacular expression, 'keepin' on just to keep on keepin' on'. I work. I pay taxes. I vote. I delude myself that these things make a difference somehow. My life has been, like many, a seemingly pointless progression of ups and downs, with maybe a few more downs than most. Maybe not. "I have owned guns all my life, since the age of seven, and have received considerable training, both formal and informal, in their use. I have been a peace officer on three occasions and a state-licensed private investigator as well. In all my years of gun ownership, I have pointed a gun at another human being on only one occasion, the result of which was the saving of a life without the gun being fired. All of my guns collectively have not killed as many people as Ted Kennedy's car.
"In any event, my situation and yours are almost certainly different in many ways. I suspect you have a family, perhaps a mortgage, and dreams for the future. This puts you in a position to make a life-altering decision. You can turn around, go back to the station house, and tell your watch commander that I presented you with satisfactory evidence of my having sold my firearms to an FFL dealer in another jurisdiction. Your other choice is for you and I to die today, right here and right now in this doorway, because I will not live a life of servile subjugation to the state. If I am to be stripped of even one of my 'inalienable' rights, then I have no rights at all, including the right to life.
"Oh, one more thing: I hope that your police academy training has made you observant enough to notice that at no time since my opening my door to you have you been able to see both of my hands. That being said, it's your call."
A Cautionary Tale
Henry Bowman
Something happened in New Orleans during the course of dealing with Hurricane Katrina that is being ignored by the mainstream press, and yet is as chilling as anything that has been reported: The police commissioner ordered the door-to-door confiscation of private firearms from law-abiding citizens, stating that only "law enforcement" would be allowed to possess arms.
Ignoring for a moment the fact that this is exactly what happened in Nazi Germany, the nullification of the Second Amendment by unlawful bureaucratic fiat is a matter as ominous as anything that has happened in this nation since 9/11. The crowning insult of this action is that it came at a time of greatest need for the citizens of New Orleans to be capable and prepared to protect their homes and persons -- one of the circumstances for which the Second Amendment was specifically designed. This outrage cannot be allowed to pass unchallanged, and must NEVER AGAIN be allowed to occur, because to do so is to turn down a one-way street so narrow as to preclude ever turning back around again.
Think of the loss of personal arms as analogous to allowing a camp fire to die down during a cold night because the person charged with tending it has gone to sleep. If he, or anyone else in camp, should awaken in time to pile more wood on the fire and stoke it back to life, then all will be well. But if the awakening doesn't come until after the last ember has gone out, it won't matter how much tinder or wood, or gasoline for that matter, is heaped on the now dead fire; there will be no more warmth forthcoming.
I would urge each and every one of us to spread the word about what happened to the Second Amendment in New Orleans, and to insist that all freedom-loving and Constitution-respecting people see this event as an absolute and irrevocable line in the sand. It may be that some few of us will have to fill the role of martyrs in the months ahead to convince those in power that we are serious about retaining this most important freedom; if so, so be it. Several years ago I published a paper in which the following lines appeared, indicating my personal intentions if and when the day arrives that I face one of the proverbial jack-booted thugs who's come for my guns. Emulate and amend it to suit your own circumstances or not, as you see fit:
"Before you take one step into my home, officer (or deputy) __________, I have a statement to make which you need to hear.
"I am sixty-four years old; I have no wife, no children, and little or no prospects for the future. My daily routine might best be described by the vernacular expression, 'keepin' on just to keep on keepin' on'. I work. I pay taxes. I vote. I delude myself that these things make a difference somehow. My life has been, like many, a seemingly pointless progression of ups and downs, with maybe a few more downs than most. Maybe not. "I have owned guns all my life, since the age of seven, and have received considerable training, both formal and informal, in their use. I have been a peace officer on three occasions and a state-licensed private investigator as well. In all my years of gun ownership, I have pointed a gun at another human being on only one occasion, the result of which was the saving of a life without the gun being fired. All of my guns collectively have not killed as many people as Ted Kennedy's car.
"In any event, my situation and yours are almost certainly different in many ways. I suspect you have a family, perhaps a mortgage, and dreams for the future. This puts you in a position to make a life-altering decision. You can turn around, go back to the station house, and tell your watch commander that I presented you with satisfactory evidence of my having sold my firearms to an FFL dealer in another jurisdiction. Your other choice is for you and I to die today, right here and right now in this doorway, because I will not live a life of servile subjugation to the state. If I am to be stripped of even one of my 'inalienable' rights, then I have no rights at all, including the right to life.
"Oh, one more thing: I hope that your police academy training has made you observant enough to notice that at no time since my opening my door to you have you been able to see both of my hands. That being said, it's your call."
