Maria Doreen Flores Marzoña

Title: "The Katrina Gun Confiscation: A Cautionary Tale for All Gun Owners" We look up to the United States of America as the "The land of the free, and the home of the brave." But what constitutes the phrase? Literally, it is just part of the US general anthem. Freedom is an interesting word, but it is subjected to many restrictions and limitations. This is how we generally envision the United States of America to be. Maybe brave, but free? I am beginning to have doubts. What happened on the gun confiscation after the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina is one for the books. A lot of gun-abiding citizens of New Orleans has been deprived of their rights to practice the 2nd Amendment or to have a concealed carry permit. This is now being tagged as a large-scale gun confiscation that happened after the Hurricane Katrina. What envelops the hearts of the freedom-loving Americans now is fear, that the government following through with a mass confiscation of firearms violates independence and self-preservation. People is afraid that what happened in New Orleans can happen anywhere else in America. Some can even imagine that the government with the police or military officers can do a proverbial “house-to-house” confiscation effort. That an order will be given to the police and literally go to every house in the country to find the guns and seize them. The Katrina Gun Confiscation is a mass violation of rights. It should only happen during times of crisis or war. The Massachusetts governor in 1775, ordered soldiers to confiscate firearms from civilians in the interest of stopping a rebellion. There has been several incidents in the past, just like the one mentioned above, where guns were confiscated for purposes of stopping a rebellion, preparations for military reconquest, relocation or thwart foreign attacks. These, as history shows, present different reasons to confiscate guns. Now, this brings fear of physical safety and security, and the violation of individual rights. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans became a disaster area, with a widespread existence of violence and vandalism. The solution that the local government found was to launch a wholesale gun confiscation effort in the city — door-to-door. The Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin declared the city under a state of “martial law”. The impact of martial law to New Orleans was that they were not allowed to possess guns. Only law enforcement can have guns. Residents experienced another hardship when Cops and National Guards went door-to-door to confiscate their guns. Residents loathe the idea that their only means of protection was seized and their houses were searched aggressively. It was like undergoing the same ordeal of the Hurricane, being helpless and defenseless, over again. The local authorities got more than 1,000 firearms. There were no due process, no receipts. The government promised that gun confiscation will never happen again, but there is always a possibility of another door-to-door gun confiscation. This possibility cannot be ruled out. Americans must always keep their guards up for future occurrences like this. Owning a gun means following rules. Being responsible with owning and using it. It should be in accordance with laws applicable and created in certain states, like: owning firearms requires registration; carrying requires a permit; certain guns are banned; certain magazines and accessories are banned; certain ammunition types are banned; lists of “prohibited persons”.  If rules were violated, it will result to felony and imprisonment and a lifetime revocation of rights. Even with the rules and laws, people sometimes don’t oblige and it is bad for the community. New laws can be done and it can result to situations that we are not comfortable with. The strategy that has worked effectively for Drugs can be used with guns, a policy designed to kick doors and raid homes can also be used for illegal guns.” What happened after Hurricane Katrina? In August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest hurricanes ever to hit the United States. An estimated 1,833 people died in the hurricane and the flooding, and millions of others were left homeless along the Gulf Coast and in New Orleans. There has been extensive reports on violence, looting, shooting against rescuers, murder and rape as an aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It can be that some reports on criminal acts did occur, but many reports were also exaggerated or blown out of proportion. Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath was both a crisis and an opportunity for most people esp. when the government released the resources to help the citizens of New Orleans recover from the disaster. New Orleans is Alive after 12 years! New houses, new places are emerging. Old places are thriving. Crime was down in all categories in 2008. They have a new mayor and a new police chief, both committed to create a better, if not the best New Orleans. Gun owners should be aware and familiar with the Katrina Gun Confiscation as the story will make them understand all other laws and rights connected to it. Gun control (or firearms regulation) is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. It also refers to the class of weapons referred to as small arms (revolvers and self-loading pistols, rifles and carbines, assault rifles, submachine guns and light machine guns). The term gun control can also be "gun-violence prevention", "gun safety", "firearms regulation", "illegal guns", or "criminal access to guns". Under pressure from the National Rifle Association, police has began returning guns confiscated after Hurricane Katrina. As of recently, police said only 17 of about 700 weapons had been returned. After the storm flooded the city, police and soldiers removed guns from houses and confiscated guns. NRA sued the city for what they did. "Natural disasters may destroy great cities, but they do not destroy civil rights," said Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, which joined the NRA in the lawsuit. They dropped the lawsuit after the city agreed to return the guns. Some gun owners complained it was difficult to get them back. Police are looking for proof from gun owners before they return the guns. It must be hard to present any bill of sale or a proper paperwork because most of the papers/documents must have drown with the flooding. Criminal background checks were made to those claiming weapons. Some gun owners found the weapons were evidence in a crime and not eligible for release. Others did not have the proper paperwork. What is the 2nd Amendment? The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the first ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that the right belongs to individuals for self-defense, but “Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited…” It is “…not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.” “A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed”. To think or believe that the 2nd Amendment is the most important right, that is an opinion or a belief that is debatable. According to some people the 2nd Amendment is the most important right, simply because it keeps the government from being able to impose tyranny or dictatorship. It gives people the right to oppose tyranny, to protect themselves, without the government being able to take the right away. The 2nd Amendment is a guarantee to the people that we have the right to bear arms. The government cannot take away our rights because we can resist. The 2nd Amendment was done and adopted in the past, to protect ourselves from being colonized. History has a lot of stories where small countries were taken over by armed countries. If we exercise the right to 2nd Amendment, we cannot be taken over. We can always resist to maintain our freedom. Being free is what the 2nd Amendment portrays. I believe that we should exercise our right to the 2nd Amendment. It is a way of protecting ourselves from those who doesn’t have respect for other people’s lives. I look at the 2nd Amendment as a means to keep us safe. If it was freedom that we fight for in the old days, it is safety and the right to live now. Every day, when you watch the news on television, when you read newspapers and you see and read the crimes committed, you will cringe in fear. Most of the crimes, how the killings were done, very inhumane. It is because those crimes might have been stopped if you have a concealed carry, if you believe in the 2nd Amendment right. James Madison, the father of the U.S. Constitution, said, “Americans [have] the right and advantage of being armed — unlike citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” Sources: http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/large-scale-gun-confiscation/ https://www.livescience.com/22522-hurricane-katrina-facts.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Katrina_in_New_Orleans https://www.tripsavvy.com/truth-about-new-orleans-after-katrina- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution http://www.teenink.com/opinion/current_events_politics/article/369588/Why-the-Second-Amendment-is-our-Most-important-Right/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_control