Mover Mike

What's going on here! Remember this story from New Orleans after the hurricane: "

John Carolan was sitting on his porch in the thick, humid darkness just before midnight Tuesday when three or four young men, one with a knife and another with a machete, stopped in front of his fence and pointed to the generator humming in the front yard. [One] said, 'We want that generator.' [Carolan responded] 'I fired a couple of rounds over their heads with a .357 Magnum . . . they scattered. You've heard of the law west of the Pecos? This is the law west of Canal Street.'"

From the NY Times on September 8, we read that police are confiscating weapons from residents of New Orleans, even if you have a permit to carry.

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.

But that order 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

I'm sure John Carolan would agree with this Larry Elder column from September 5, How many do guns defend?

Criminologist and researcher Gary Kleck, using his own commissioned phone surveys and number extrapolation, estimates 2.5 million Americans use guns for defense each year. He further found 1 in 6 of those who used guns defensively believed someone would have died if they had not resorted to their firearms. That corresponds to approximately 400,000 of Mr. Kleck's estimated 2.5 million defensive gun uses. Mr. Kleck points that if only a tenth of the people were right about saving a life, the number saved annually by guns would still be at least 40,000. (emphasis added)

We only read about the deaths from guns. Elder says

In 2003, we know 12,548 people died through nonsuicide gun violence, including homicides, accidents and cases of undetermined intent.

I'll take the 40,000 saved vs. 12,548 dead any day of the year. It borders on insanity to give up your gun!