Posted on 09/21/2005 10:49:49 AM PDT by 300magnum
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - After the storm came the carjackers and burglars. Then came the gun battles and the chemical explosions that shook the restored Victorians in New Orleans' Algiers Point neighborhood.
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"The hurricane was a breeze compared with the crime and terror that followed," said Gregg Harris, a psychotherapist who lives in the battered area.
As life returned to this close-knit neighborhood three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, residents said they hoped their experience could convince political leaders to get serious about the violence and poor services that have long been an unfortunate hallmark of their city.
"I think now it's a wake-up call," Harris said.
After the storm, the neighborhood association had to act as law enforcement and emergency response unit as city services collapsed and the police force was unable to protect them.
Citizens organized armed patrols and checked on the elderly. They slept on their porches with loaded shotguns and bolted awake when intruders stumbled on the aluminum cans they had scattered on the sidewalk.
Gunshots rang out for days, sometimes terrifyingly close.
For Harris, the first warning sign came on Tuesday, the day after the storm, when two young men hit his partner, Vinnie Pervel, over the head and drove off with his Ford van.
"A police car drove up behind me and saw it happening but he didn't do anything," said Pervel, who heads the 1,500-household neighborhood association.
Then residents heard that police vehicles were being carjacked and looters were taking guns and ammunition from nearby stores.
"We thought, 'Perhaps this is going to get really ugly,"' said Gareth Stubbs, a marine surveyor who lives across Pelican Street from Harris and Pervel.
A Texas woman who runs a Web site called Polimom.com served as a link between those who stayed and those who had left. With her help, they stockpiled an arsenal of shotguns, derringer pistols and an old AK-47.
They were put to use the next day.
"Some looters came up and pulled a gun on the wrong group of men," said Harris, who said he did not fire a gun himself and declined to say who else was involved in the battle.
"Two men were shot right there," Harris said, pointing down the street as he watered his rose bushes. "One was shot in the back, the other in the leg, and the third I was told made it a block and a half before he died in the street. I did not go down to see the body."
The next day a nearby stockpile of chemicals exploded, shaking the houses and sending a fireball 300 feet into the sky. The fire burned for another three days, Harris said.
"For five days we didn't need FEMA, the Red Cross or the National Guard," Harris said. "The neighborhood took care of itself."
The answer is most likely zero. People in Texas already know what would happen to you if you pulled the same stunts that were done by the thugs in N.O.
As people stock water and food, they also clean their rifles.
If there are any casualties there, they most likely will be gangstas from NOLA who didnt learn the first time.
Cinnamon Stillwell is a good conservative writer. I think about the only one that works for the Chronicle.
I think she might have a FR handle too.
Enemies of the constitution wear many different uniforms and hold many offices with the plan to subvert such liberties and rights under the shadow of authority under emergency conditions.
Lots of people say they'll do this or that until they actually are in such a situation and then yeild to the implied threat or show of force. Talk is cheap, actions are expensive. The cost of freedom is high. I like what I have, expensive or not, and have no intention of being robbed of family, freedoms or firearms earned at great cost over time.
Hopefully sheeple, polidiots, presstitutes, DOD , LEO's etc have learned from Chief Compass's and Mayor Nagins follies and this won't happen again...
Just my opinion.....Stay Safe !
After reading the beginning of this thread, I drove over to my dealer and ordered a Taurus .38SP titanium DAO snubbie and a Rem 870 Express 20g.
After watching the animals of Katrina and wondering how people will fare during Rita, I decided that it's simply unwise to be unarmed, especially in a semi-urban/suburban area.
I pick up both of them next week.
Tell me about the taurus. How much was it? I am kind of interested in one of those super airweight snubbies, although I am inclined toward the 357 version. I know Smith makes a scandium 357 snubbie.
Get plenty of shotgun shells..at least ten boxes.
I'm getting the Taurus Ultralight for $350 off of the consignment shelf (in good shape), retail price new is $450+, and it's less than the $600 for an equivalent new S&W Airweight.
Also looked at the Airweight but I didn't like the trigger pull which is about 12 lbs, while the Taurus is about 8-9 lbs.
Had a Ruger SP101 snubbie in the past, .357 Mag. I wasn't pleased with it because I couldn't find a hollowpoint round which would mushroom properly, I suppose because it couldn't generate enough muzzle velocity in a 2-inch barrel, but not sure. Otherwise I liked the SP101 (but of course it's heavier than the titanium frames).
Some models of both the Taurus and the S&W are chambered for both .357 and .38.
But this time I'll just stick with .38 SPL +P. That'll do the trick.
Actually I counted 3. Charley, Frances, and Jeanne. In my neighborhood every household is heavily armed.
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