By Katie Pavlich
Thursday, January 10, 2013
By now, we’ve heard the argument about semi-automatic
"assault" rifles: nobody needs one. We’ve heard the only reason why
someone would obtain this kind of weapon is so they can kill people, which is
far from the truth. We’ve also heard the argument from both the Left and the
Right that a pistol is how someone protects their home.
"I really don’t know why people need assault
weapons. I’m not a hunter but I understand people who want to hunt,"
Republican Rep. Peter King said on Morning Joe earlier this week. "I
understand people who live in rough neighborhoods or have a small business and
want to maintain a pistol to protect themselves as long as they’re properly
vetted and licensed. But an assault weapon? "
While the use of
pistols in the home are helpful, they’re not the best weapons to use when it
comes to protecting property. This is why people need a semi-automatic rifle
which yes, can come in the form of an AR-15.
Let’s go back in
history for a moment. While everyday life in America compared to the rest of
the world is pretty darn easy and relatively safe, the reality is things can
change overnight, regardless of whether you live in a decent neighborhood. Take
for example the Los Angeles riots in 1992, when business owners were forced to
defend their property from angry mobs causing severe chaos: $1 billion in
property damage, 50 dead, 4,000 injured, 3,000 fires set and 1,100 buildings
damaged. In this case, a handheld pistol was in no way sufficient, but
semi-automatic rifles were.
Business owners in
LA’s Koreatown knew what was coming their way, so they armed themselves with
shotguns and semi-automatic rifles in order to defend their property. They
stood on their rooftops as they watched black smoke pour down the street. The
cops weren't there to help them.
“One of our security guards was killed,” Kee Whan Ha told
NPR in April 2012, 20 years after the riots took place. "I didn't see any
police patrol car whatsoever. It's a wide open area. It was like the Wild West
in the old days, there was nothing there, we were the only ones left."
Business owner Richard Rhee felt the same way and told
the Los Angeles Times, "Burn this down after 33 years?... They don't know
how hard I've worked. This is my market and I'm going to protect it."
“Assault weapons” saved Koreatown and it’s fair to say
the people holding them saved the lives of many that day.
Then of course, there was the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina in 2005. New Orleans became a place of complete anarchy in a matter of
hours. In addition to property owners being forced to stave off mobs of people
roaming for food, water and shelter to survive as the government failed to
provide emergency services, they had to protect themselves against dangerous
looters. But not only were New Orleans residents forced to defend themselves
against immediate threats to their person and property, residents also had to
protect themselves from the government.
As the water started to recede, leaving New Orleans a
chaotic wasteland, police officers began going door to door confiscating
weapons. Who did they take them from? Mostly poor black residents in New
Orleans' 9th Ward.
The New York Times reported in September 2005, “No
civilians in New Orleans will be allowed to carry pistols, shotguns or other
firearms.” The paper pointed out that rich residents and business were allowed
to hire hundreds of security guards with firearms to protect them. Sadly, the
poor in New Orleans didn’t have the same luxury.
Superintendent of
police at the time P. Edwin Compass III said, “Only law enforcement are allowed
to have weapons.”
What happened days before weapons confiscation was
tyranny of the worst kind. Henry Glover, a 31-year-old black man was shot and
killed by New Orlean’s police officers. They also burned his body.
A New Orleans police officer was laughing after he burned
the body of a man who had been gunned down by police in Hurricane Katrina's
aftermath, a fellow officer testified Thursday.
The testimony came
during the trial of officer Greg McRae and Lt. Dwayne Scheuermann, who are
charged with burning the body of 31-year-old Henry Glover in a car after he was
shot and killed by a different officer outside a strip mall on Sept. 2, 2005.
Three other current and former officers also are charged in Glover's death.
A former officer,
David Warren, is charged with shooting Glover. Prosecutors say Glover wasn't
armed and didn't pose a threat to Warren.
Scheuermann and
McRae are accused of beating people who drove Glover to a makeshift police
headquarters in search of help. The three men were handcuffed when the officers
drove off with the car containing Glover's body.
Former Lt. Robert
Italiano and Lt. Travis McCabe are accused of falsifying a report to make it
appear Glover's shooting was justified.
When politicians and gun grabbers tell us we “don’t need”
semi-automatic, "assault," or "military style" weapons,
they don’t know what they’re talking about.
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