FEMA ANTI-GUN POSTURE PUT RESCUE TEAM and PUBLIC AT RISK
Updated in 2010
Gun control in FEMA could have harmed rescue teams and the public.
The astonishing revelation that the Federal Emergency Management Agency suspended the Phoenix, Ariz. Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue team because it was accompanied by four armed police officers when it traveled to Louisiana to help with disaster relief efforts, demonstrates a despicable anti-gun attitude, said the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA).
This is a violation of States rights because Louisiana Law allows anyone to carry a gun. Federal gov agencies have no right to violate state law.
“FEMA just flunked the personality test,” said CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron. “FEMA officials didn’t bat an eye when teams of police from other jurisdictions descended on New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, disarming law-abiding citizens who had committed no crime. Nobody from FEMA uttered a peep when California Highway Patrol officers body-slammed Patricia Konie to the floor in her own home taking her revolver and forcibly removing her from her residence for evacuation.
“Yet FEMA went ballistic when a team of trained specialists came to help their fellow Americans, in a region gripped by anarchy, simply because the Phoenix group had the good sense to bring along four armed officers for their security,” Waldron noted. “These officers did not engage in gun grabs. They were deputized as U.S. Marshals, and were only there to protect the fire department rescue personnel. U.S. Marshals think it’s a good idea for rescue teams to have armed escorts. It just might save somebody’s life.
“The American public, and especially the citizens of Phoenix and members of their fire and police departments, deserve an apology from FEMA,” Waldron said. “Those people came to help, and they deserved much better than a backhand slap from FEMA just because somebody prudently was carrying a shotgun.
“Further,” he continued, “we want to know what influence FEMA officials may have had in the decision by local law enforcement to disarm gun owners in New Orleans and St. Tammany Parish. Somebody gave that order, and we want to know who. That illegal edict originated somewhere, and if FEMA officials had any role in adopting a public disarmament policy, it better never happen again, and those responsible should be fired.
“Congress needs to tell FEMA that it’s sole mission is disaster relief, not gun control,” Waldron stated. “FEMA’s job is to coordinate relief efforts, not dictate what equipment response teams bring along, or what security provisions they provide.”
FEMA’S ANTI-GUN POSTURE PUTS RESCUE TEAM, PUBLIC AT RISK, SAYS CITIZEN’S COMMITTEE
Government agencies need to be told that they read up oin state laws and abide by them. They are not above state law.
It would be very interesting to find out “who” was involved in the FEMA gun exclusion.
We hear about these things but never seem to get any information on any follow up.
I read with chagrin the story re: FEMA’s intolerance of bona fide law enforcement officers, sworn peace officers, coming to the aid of fellow Americans. Please note all sworn officers are required by regulation to be armed, even when off duty. Has the CDC with its bent on anti-gun ghost hunting mentality penetrated FEMA. When natural disasters strike, some criminals enjoy preying on people or utility companies who are vulnerable to exploitation. Wouldn’t such an incident beg would-be terrorists or anarchists to ensure non-recovery and/or sabotage of vital utilities, to wit: water, electricity, communications and banking facilities. Establishing public safety at the site of a natural disaster is a necessity and not an option. Criminal energy has always seemed to encourage predatory exploits, i.e. looting, etc. Think about it!
Retired Law Enforcement Agent