L. Neil Smith's
THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE
Number 337, September 18, 2005
"Prison Time For Gun Confiscators!"

Gun Grab Gambit Goes Great in New Orleans
by Walt Dean
pahoo@gate.net

Exclusive to TLE

9/10/2005

Survivors of hurricane and flood in New Orleans are now getting some real surprise treatment from their Uncle Sam. New Orleans residents are discovering they have been stripped of their Constitutional liberties and no longer have Second Amendment rights. Police and government agents are busy confiscating legally owned guns.

On September 8, 2005, the New York Times reported that, "Waters were receding across this flood-beaten city today as police officers began confiscating weapons, including legally registered firearms, from civilians in preparation for a mass forced evacuation of the residents still living here."

"No civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns or other firearms," said P. Edwin Compass III, the superintendent of police. "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons," he said.

The "American Heritage Dictionary," defines "confiscate" as a transitive verb which means:
1. To seize (private property) for the public treasury.
2. To seize by or as if by authority.

Confiscate, when used as an adjective means:
1. Seized by a government; appropriated.
2. Having lost property through confiscation.

In other words, "confiscation" means losing possession of your firearms without remuneration or any possibility that your guns will be returned. The goods seized, in this case your valuable firearms, are now the possession of BATF agents, or National Guardsmen, or may find their way into the gun cabinet of the police-person that took them from you. They are gone, taken away by fiat decree, along with the Bill of Rights.

Legally owned firearms, the ownership of which is protected by the Second Amendment everywhere else in the United States, are forfeit as contraband in New Orleans.

P. Edwin Compass, (The "P." likely an abbreviation for either "Poltroon" or "'Pee' on the Constitution"), the superintendent of police quoted above, explains the new government policy succinctly when he stated, "Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons." The rest of us, it appears, are just peons and peasants. (see: footnote below)

With the federal government going door-to-door collecting privately owned firearms, many folks fear this is an open door to a new national gun confiscation policy.

Alex Jones, of "Infowars.com" writes:

Total Gun Confiscation of Law Abiding Citizens Begins
Federal forces lead criminal gangs of police in America-killing gun grab

Alex Jones
Infowars.com
September 9, 2005

"The balloon has gone up, the shoe has dropped. Anyone doubting the criminal intentions of the social engineer control-freaks in Washington need only look at middle-class neighborhoods being stormed by black-masked wearing jackboots on a mission to steal guns.

This is a precedent setting case for national gun confiscation. This is a clear declaration of war by the Federal Government against the American people. This is exactly how Lexington and Concord started the Revolutionary War in 1775."

Jones continues, claiming that disarmament of citizens has been a long-standing goal of the federal government:

The federal government has been chomping at the bit for decades to disarm the American people, and now an amalgamation of state and local police led by the BATF are having their deepest desire fulfilled in New Orleans.

Remember back in 1993, when Bill Clinton announced weapon sweeps of public housing without warrants? They did it to the disadvantaged then, and most people didn't care. Now, they are doing it to the middle-class in plain view of the world.

They're setting a precedent to take your property, to take your children, to take your guns. The courts have ruled over and over again that the police have no obligation to protect the public. At the same time, police have been trained that there really isn't a Second Amendment and that Americans really don't have a right to protect themselves.

Jones then makes the following comments that could well reflect the fears and worries of many gun owning Americans:

This unfolding gun confiscation tragedy stands as a monument to the true intentions of this parasitic government. It wants you disarmed and under heel. It wants slaves—subjects, not citizens.

The law-abiding gun owning citizens of New Orleans are having their life line severed and the American people are witnessing a giant gun confiscation drill.

There should be a howling, screaming the likes of which has never been heard against the Bush administration that is in control of New Orleans. If we let them legitimize gun confiscation for security, they are going to use this all over the country.

Gun Owners of America has expressed similar concerns about the New Orleans gun confiscations. In G.O.A.'s latest mailing list alert sent on September 9, 2005, we read:

Gun Confiscations in New Orleans

9/9/05

"GOA has received reports that the confiscation of legally-owned firearms has commenced in New Orleans. In addition to denouncing this in the press, GOA will also be looking to draft legislation at both the state and federal level to preclude authorities from imposing ANY firearms restrictions during emergency response activities."

Even the NRA, usually slow to respond to articles negative of Bush administration policies, (it wasn't that many years ago that G.W. Bush Senior resigned his NRA membership over comments critical of federal "jackbooted thugs"), includes a link to the New Orleans gun confiscation story in their, "In the News" section:

It should be noted that as of this date, the NRA has not formulated an opinion or response on their website to this important gun grab story.

Meanwhile, Alex Jones thinks New Orleans is setting the stage for more anti-gun action in the near future:

"Lord Bush is already licking his lips and talking about making Gonzalez, a person who is adamantly anti-gun, his pick to succeed Rehnquist."

"All Americans can now count on this: when you're in trouble or when you're in crisis, the "authorities" aren't going to come with aid. They're going to send a squad of goons to take advantage of the situation, take your guns and drag you off to a FEMA camp. This is what we pay taxes for."

I wish I could say that I think Alex Jones is wrong, but there is certainly nothing in current events to disprove what he is saying. First, they take your guns, and then off you go to a FEMA camp, which according to news reports should more accurately be called, "detention centers."

As Lenny Bruce wryly observed some forty years ago, there is no layoff in the police departments or federal bureaucracies, and thus they need to keep finding more and more reasons to increase their budgets and keep their jobs; they've got to find more and more "enemies of the state" to justify their existence. Being an enemy of the state now includes being a gun owner, but if current trends hold, you may not be one for long.

[footnote] September 8, 2005, the New York Times: "But that order (for gun confiscation) apparently does not apply to hundreds of security guards hired by businesses and some wealthy individuals to protect property. The guards, employees of private security companies like Blackwater, openly carry M-16's and other assault rifles. Mr. Compass said that he was aware of the private guards, but that the police had no plans to make them give up their weapons." The double standard is plain: If you have lots of money, you can hire private protection, but if you are just a regular working person, you are not permitted to protect yourself.

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