Sonya has a new webpage of her own

Witty as always, even the title of the website gives you a good a idea of what you can expect (Sonya's Gotta Scream!). I am sure that it will definitely worth a visit.

Gun Purchases Rising in Louisiana After Hurricane

The Financial Times (London) is not exactly comfortable with this, but they do report that people are depending on themselves for at least some of their protection:

The E-Z Pawn store on Airline Drive in northern Baton Rouge is doing a brisk trade in guns post-Hurricane Katrina.

“I’ve got people like you wouldn’t believe, lots of people, coming in and buying handguns,” said Briley Reed, 34, assistant manager. “I’ve even had soldiers coming in here buying guns.”

Before the hurricane, the store sold one or two guns on a typical day, according to Mr Reed. During the last week, they have sold 10 to 15 a day. The model of choice is a 9mm Highpoint that sells for $200 (£108.50).

The activity at E-Z Pawn is a testament to Louisiana’s liberal gun laws. More than that, it is a barometer of the anxiety coursing through Baton Rouge as the city copes with thousands of refugees – the vast majority poor and black – streaming in from New Orleans. . . .

I would like to thank John Williamson for sending this link to me.

Gun advice for New Orleans-type situations

A friend of mine, Don Kates, offers some advice on what is the best gun to own if you ever found yourself in a situation such as New Orleans:

GENERAL ANSWER: The answer to the questions you have posited may vary depending on specific circumstances (some discussed below), but there is a single general answer: the gun of choice is always a handgun because that is the one weapon you can keep w/ you at all times – and in doing so you are securing it from children and anyone else you do not deem trustworthy. The preference would be not to rely on only one variety; have a handgun w/ you and a shotgun and/or rifle as closely available as possible,

A shotgun or rifle in your bedroom (or anywhere else) is of limited utility if an attack comes when you are in some other part of your home. Likewise a shotgun or rifle may be difficult to bring into play in a car – especially if there is only you and you are driving your car. If you have multiple people in the vehicle a shotgun or rifle for each may be viable but even so may be much more difficult to bring into play. If you have a pick-up truck my off-hand recommendation would be for the driver and passenger to have handguns (w/ long guns stowed behind the seat or in a rack in the event you have time to deploy out of the vehicle) and long guns for anyone who is in the bed of the truck, though they all should also have a holstered handgun.

As to the species of handgun, I would recommend a high-capacity semi-auto in a caliber not less than .40 S&W or, at least 9mm. There are zillions of different brands on the market that are excellent and choosing between them is either a matter of personal taste or of expertise exceeding mine. My personal experience is most extensively with the Glock and Sig-Sauer 225 in 9mm. and Sigma in .40 S&W; all of which are fine.

SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: If you are attacked from 100 yards or more away (a highly unlikely scenario) you will need a rifle. I have much less experience w/ these but would recommend something like the Ruger Ranch Rifle or an H&K high cap semi-auto or other quality weapon in a caliber exceeding 223.

For stopping power at short range nothing beats a shotgun loaded w/ slugs or, at worst, large buckshot. But you would only select a shotgun in the very unusual situation in which you: (a) can predict the time you will be attacked so you can be sure to have the shotgun w/ you; and (b) can predict that the attack will come from a short enough range that a shotgun is effective.

Guns used to stop crime in New Orleans 3

From the Foxnews.com:

When night falls, Charlie Hackett climbs the steps to his boarded-up window, takes down the plywood, grabs his 12-gauge shotgun and waits. He is waiting for looters and troublemakers, for anyone thinking his neighborhood has been abandoned like so many others across the city.

Two doors down, John Carolan is doing the same on his screened-in porch, pistol by his side. They are not about to give up their homes to the lawlessness that has engulfed New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

"We kind of together decided we would defend what we have here and we would stay up and defend the neighborhood," says Hackett, an Army veteran with a snow-white beard and a business installing custom kitchens.

"I don't want to kill anybody," he says, "but I'd sure like to scare 'em." . . .

Hurricane Katrina: The Disintegrating New Orleans Police Department

"The real issue, particularly in New Orleans, is that no one anticipated the disintegration or the erosion of the civilian police force in New Orleans. Once that assessment was made ... then the requirement became obvious. And that's when we started flowing military police into the theater. We were pulsing forces in in very degraded infrastructure -- airports had reduced capabilities ... in some cases we only had one road in because of lack of bridges, flooding, loss of infrastructure. So we couldn't rush to failure on this thing and we had to take a more measured approach on this thing than any of us wanted. Had we gone in with a lesser force we may have been challenged, innocents may have been caught in a fight between the guard and military police and those who did not want to be processed or apprehended."

Hurricane Katrina, a man made disaster?

The Intellectual Activist has a very interesting posting:

But this is not a natural disaster. It is a man-made disaster.

The man-made disaster is not an inadequate or incompetent response by federal relief agencies, and it was not directly caused by Hurricane Katrina. This is where just about every newspaper and television channel has gotten the story wrong.

The man-made disaster we are now witnessing in New Orleans did not happen over four days last week. It happened over the past four decades. Hurricane Katrina merely exposed it to public view.

The man-made disaster is the welfare state.

For the past few days, I have found the news from New Orleans to be confusing. People were not behaving as you would expect them to behave in an emergency—indeed, they were not behaving as they have behaved in other emergencies. That is what has shocked so many people: they have been saying that this is not what we expect from America. In fact, it is not even what we expect from a Third World country.

When confronted with a disaster, people usually rise to the occasion. They work together to rescue people in danger, and they spontaneously organize to keep order and solve problems. This is especially true in America. We are an enterprising people, used to relying on our own initiative rather than waiting around for the government to take care of us. I have seen this a hundred times, in small examples (a small town whose main traffic light had gone out, causing ordinary citizens to get out of their cars and serve as impromptu traffic cops, directing cars through the intersection) and large ones (the spontaneous response of New Yorkers to September 11).

So what explains the chaos in New Orleans? . . . [READ ON]

Fear of Radiation Poison from Chernobyl nuclear power plant appears worse than the actual harm

Fewer than 50 deaths have been directly attributed to radiation released in the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, and the final toll could be thousands fewer than originally feared, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Monday.

However, anxiety caused by fear of death and illness from radiation poisoning is causing major mental health problems among the affected population and such worries "show no signs of diminishing and may even be spreading," the agency said, citing a new report compiled by 100 scientists.

"How often do Americans use guns for defensive purposes?"

Larry Elder has a very nice piece on defensive gun use that is well worth reading. My only comment deals with Jim Wilson's comments. Jim is right about the range of estimates, but it would be useful to provide some context for the lowest estimates because they are based upon a government done set of surveys that does not directly ask people about defensive uses.

Guns used to stop crime in New Orleans 2

From the New York Times:

In a city shut down for business, the Rite Aid at Oak and South Carrollton was wide open on Wednesday. Someone had stolen a forklift, driven it four blocks, peeled up the security gate and smashed through the front door.

The young and the old walked in empty-handed and walked out with armfuls of candy, sunglasses, notebooks, soda and whatever else they could need or find. No one tried to stop them.

Across New Orleans, the rule of law, like the city's levees, could not hold out after Hurricane Katrina. The desperate and the opportunistic took advantage of an overwhelmed police force and helped themselves to anything that could be carried, wheeled or floated away, including food, water, shoes, television sets, sporting goods and firearms.

Many people with property brought out their own shotguns and sidearms. Many without brought out shopping carts. The two groups have moved warily in and out of each other's paths for the last three days, and the rising danger has kept even some rescue efforts from proceeding. . . .

"NBC sends armed guards to lawless Gulf Coast"

NBC News has sent private security personnel to the increasingly dicey Gulf Coast region to help keep its employees safe while covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The private security officers, usually former soldiers or police, are licensed to carry firearms and are trained to keep the situation under control so that journalists can do their jobs safely. That's becoming increasingly difficult in New Orleans and in Gulfport, Miss., where there aren't enough police or National Guardsmen to keep the streets safe. . . .

It's not unusual for networks to hire security forces. Armed personnel accompany news crews in Iraq and Afghanistan; they've been used domestically for situations like the Los Angeles riots in 1992, when dozens of people were killed and hundreds injured. But NBC News is the first to publicly acknowledge that it had taken such a step. . . .

Debate on piece defending price gouging

For a running debate on piece that defended price gouging: follow this link to FreeRepublic.com.

Guns used to stop crime in New Orleans

From the New York Daily News:

I went looking for the Big Easy yesterday. I found Dodge City instead. Looters ran wild, some desperate for food and water, others just taking advantage of a chance at free cigarettes and beer.

In the Carrollton neighborhood, two armed men - self-appointed sheriffs in a white pickup - confronted them. Spotting thieves who had commandeered a forklift and smashed into a Rite Aid store, the two men fired above the looters' heads and ran them off.

Hurricane Katrina Damage

It is almost inconceivable to image what people are going through in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I am sure that everyone's hearts go out to the people there. I have made a donation to the Red Cross and it seems that the least we can do.

Yet, whatever problems they are facing in New Orleans they have been compounded by the problems with violence they have experienced after the storm. I did a rough calculation of the murder rate in the Superdome in New Orleans, and it was amazingly high. It appears that at least 12 people were murdered there on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I keep on getting conflicting numbers on the number of people who were in the Superdome, but if there were 20,000, that is a two day murder rate of 60 per 100,000 people. If there were 10,000 people, that obviously raises it to 120 per 100,000. By comparison, the US murder rate for the year is 5 per 100,000. New Orleans in for the entire year 2003, it was 58 per 100,000 people (or about 2.3 murders for a three day period). In other words, the murder rate seems over 100 times higher than normal for the city.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair admits the obvious

Despite spending huge amount being spent by Canada on gun control, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair notes: "The problem with bad guys is they don't register their guns and it is unlikely they would turn in their gun." Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have stopped the the new regulations and all the money spent on enforcement.