I don't believe anyone was suggesting all guns should be taken away from law abiding citizens. Quite the contrary. People should be allowed to protect themselves. Just for the reasons you mentioned, Dust. The police will never arrive in time unless you live right next to the police station. I think we would all agree the Government can't protect us either. They can't even balance a checkbook.

I think the point being made was there are fairly good reasons for certain weapons not to be widely accessible to everyone, such as fully automatic weapons. Imagine if anyone, regardless of personal history or mental capacity, could walk into a gun store and buy an M60 with a 100 round magazine, a box of hand grenades, an RPG, 20mm flak gun, 81mm mortar, ect. Where do we draw the line? Would you feel safer? It would be like Beirut in the '80s or Bosnia in the '90s. What about collateral damage?

As far as soldiers, U.S. Marshalls and local police confiscating guns after Katrina, this was, in my opinion unconstitutional. Any rights, especially the right to defend yourself, should never be breeched. However, the soldiers and U.S Marshalls were there in support of local authorities. The order, from what I gather, was enacted by the Governor, the mayor and the chief of police. Not by the federal government.

I can see how it is possible for this to happen in this situation. There is a certain amount of disconnect involved. Orders from the Louisiana authorities being given to U.S. Marshalls and the Oklahoma National Guard would be easier to follow. Especially if the local police were involved. I don't believe it would be as easy if the federal government was instructed to remove all guns from everyone. First off, it would be extremely suspicious. I hope people would want to know the motives behind it. Second, troops would be removing guns from law abiding fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers with no just cause. I imagine the troops would see this as suspicious as well.

This was handled poorly, no doubt but on a local level. Mayor Ray Nagin broke down and fled to Baton Rouge, logistics weren't even considered, there were reports of police abandoning their posts, officers were involved in a shooting of unarmed people and accused of planting evidence while trying to cover it up and the federal troops were receiving orders out side their normal chain of command. All this led to terrible confusion which made matters worse. It's not surprising it was a terrible mess.

Now try to imagine how it would be if everyone had a machine gun. I can't see this making the situation any better. Louisiana would be a wasteland.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to build a city 6 feet below sea level on the Gulf of Mexico in the first place. The city was on a path to disaster before the first stone was set regardless of who was armed. Just add wind and water and you have a trifecta of poor planning. Stir in chaos, destruction, hopelessness and mob mentality and we see what happens. Anarchy reigns.

Just trying to put a little different perspective on it.