Do we really need the National Guard to maintain law and order ?

[Spinzonner]

Shouldn't this be outsourced and privatized to the NRA ?

:sarcasm:

[jody]

1. Perhaps many Guard members are already NRA members. n/t

[renie408]

2. Conflict of Interest

Since the looters are being subsidized by the NRA, it would probably be seen as a conflict of interest.

[kcass1954]

3. If we got food and water in to those stranded, and started making a REAL

effort to get everyone out, there would be no need to "maintain" law and order. It would naturally occur.

[renie408]

4. BINGO!!

The idget Feds bleating about looters are missing the point that if the relief effort had been TIMELY, the looting would not have taken hold. According to what I have heard, the looting didn't get bad until yesterday afternoon...almost TWO DAYS after the storm was gone. The reports I saw said that the initial looting was for food and water, which was understandable in the circumstances. It wasn't until yesterday, wasn't it?, that looters started getting really ugly.

[Bridget Burke]

6. Looting can always be a problem after a disaster.

So the National Guard is sent to patrol immediately. They also do rescue work--& make it possible for others to do the rescue/relief/rebuilding.

Both security & rescue were slow to arrive. There is a small percentage of looters who are NOT trying to feed their hungry babies. But a small percentage with guns can cause trouble for everybody else.

[MrBenchley]

5. Much of the blood is on the NRA's hands

as well as to apologists for the gun lobby....

Gun stores were not even legally required to lcok up their lethal wares, and the NRA/GOP made sure that assault weapons got back in gun stores (despite paying lip service to what the overwhelming majority of Americans wanted).

And despite the childish fantaises of the neurotics who put their hobby above public safety, as we see, the people who just had to have a gun after the hurricane turned out to be exactly the ones who shouldn't have been allowed to get one.