U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Orders Confiscation Of Weapons In Advance Of Hurricane
BY Herschel Smith
7 years, 3 months ago
“U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp signed an emergency order allowing the seizure of private guns, ammunition, explosives and property the National Guard may need to respond to Hurricane Irma,” Michael Bastasch reported Tuesday at The Daily Caller. “The order allows the Adjutant General of the Virgin Islands to seize private property they believe necessary to protect the islands, subject to approval by the territory’s Justice Department.”
David updates the article with an attempt at damage control that actually makes matters worse, essentially saying that not only can they do this, they regularly do it as a matter of course and they have the right to do it. At least that’s the way I read it.
I’ll point out a few things. First of all, there is the British Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin islands. The two are not the same thing, and this is occurring in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Second, while the people there are technically considered U.S. citizens, they aren’t treated that way.
For example, the U.S. Code (48 U.S. Code 1561) outlines a bill of rights for their citizens that doesn’t include any hint of bearing arms. This seems to me to be ripe the litigation before the SCOTUS, but apparently that’s for another time.
Third, even though no one can effect change in the confiscation at the moment, this does go to show the first reflex of collectivists. And you do understand how they know who has firearms, don’t you?
Finally, in a somewhat related vein today I saw a discussion thread at reddit/r/firearms that needs to be addressed. When responding to a post that compared these confiscations to those post-Katrina, one commenter said this.
No, what happened in Katrina was very different. The order in Katrina was given by the local police superintendent, not the governor. As well, the overwhelming majority of those confiscated in New Orleans were abandoned in houses or forfeited upon being rescued when people were taken to refugee sites. By in (sic) large if a person wanted to stay in their home with their gun, they could.
This is simply a lie, and the commenter knows it. The comment sounds like it was written by a LEO or former LEO, but it’s wrong in the superlative degree. There were weapons confiscations done forcibly, i.e., without owner consent, and those weapons were either never gotten back or were in such bad shape (having been cared for poorly) that they were non-functional.
They were returned only because the NRA sponsored a lawsuit to force return of the weapons. Those confiscations were conducted by local police and military contractors (insert groups like DynCorp here), with supplemental manpower and backup provided by the Louisiana National Guard under the command of Russel Honore, who is proud of his gun confiscation efforts during Katrina.
On September 6, 2017 at 9:18 am, James said:
Hmmm….,don’t answer the door would be a good start.
On September 6, 2017 at 1:49 pm, Steve Miller said:
Lesson #2 from Mike V’s Lessons I’ve Learned From the Twentieth Century
LESSON NO. 2: If a bureaucrat, or a soldier sent by a bureaucrat, comes to knock down your door and confiscate your firearms — kill him. The disarmament of law-abiding citizens is the required precursor to genocide.
On September 6, 2017 at 3:49 pm, Pat Hines said:
With regard to New Orleans weapons confiscations, I think that areas where they took place were chosen with the expectation of minimal or non-existent resistance to the confiscation.
I say that because I’ve heard of virtually no cop/government thug deaths during that activity. In some areas, there would have been multiple government thug deaths.
I think quite a few of us have steeled ourselves against this should it be attempted in South Carolina and other southern states.
On September 6, 2017 at 8:21 pm, Buzz said:
With all due respect for those who did not go through Katrina, I would like to clarify if I may. The Chief of New Orleans Police Dept. declared that no guns would be allowed. Period. They did not select specific areas. Understand that many, many out of state agencies from all levels had officers/agents down here. Picture 1 or 2 local yocals rolling up on you, with 5 or 6 “augments”, (who often came from blue states with nothing like the amount of guns we have down here) all with ARs, M-4s or MP-5s. Quick. In the next 5 seconds… What do you do? When it’s you and your buddy in a flatboat, trying to save what little you can, 5 or 6 .223 barrels look plenty big. The moral of the story is, it can happen anywhere TPTB decide to make it happen.
On September 6, 2017 at 9:23 pm, JB said:
Anybody been studying Proper Cacheing.
I have and been experimenting for quite a number of years.
But thats just me
On September 7, 2017 at 1:32 pm, moe mensale said:
Herschel stated: “For example, the U.S. Code (48 U.S. Code 1561) outlines a bill of rights for their citizens that doesn’t include any hint of bearing arms.”
It does, in the 3rd to last paragraph. And you’re right, this should be litigated.
“The following provisions of and amendments to the Constitution of the United States are hereby extended to the Virgin Islands to the extent that they have not been previously extended to that territory and shall have the same force and effect there as in the United States or in any State of the United States: … the first to ninth amendments inclusive; …”
On September 8, 2017 at 6:20 am, Adam Baum said:
Advice to Buzz the Surrender Monkey: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.
On September 10, 2017 at 10:16 am, JoeFour said:
Attn. US Virgin Islands…why would anyone need a firearm after a hurricane?…well…see below commentary…
From the James LaFond blog….
“…fresh from the Caribbean island of Saint Martin:
“Isabelle, who was born in Toulouse, has been living on the island of Saint-Martin in the Antilles for 25 years. This doctor, who is currently on holiday in Toulouse, normally, thanks to her job, has nerves of steel. But since yesterday, she is in total panic and is calling for help because she fears for the life of her husband and son who are on the Antilles island that has been ravaged by Hurricane Irma.
“My husband and my son are in danger of being killed, like a large part of the population. It’s civil war there. We have started to hear some talk in the media about looters who cleaned out the shops after the hurricane, but it’s still very far from reality. Gangs of thugs have robbed the customs house, which was badly damaged, and have stolen the stocks of weapons that were there. Since Thursday evening, they’ve been moving back and forth across the island wearing masks and hoods attacking the houses that were still standing where the inhabitants had taken refuge,” she says, on the verge of tears.
“I had them on the phone last night. They are paralysed with fear. It’s around our house where they’ve barricaded themselves with six friends who are at our home because their villa was destroyed,” she continues. “They can’t go out. They say the attackers are moving around in gangs of ten, it’s completely lawless and they’re ready to shoot to get food or money.”
Her statements are confirmed by the testimonies of other residents of the island, who tell on social networks of gangs who are smashing in the doors of houses saying, “Whites out”.” From: https://diversitymachtfrei.wordpress.com/2017/09/09/whites-out-racial-civil-war-on-hurricane-ravaged-island/