More on Guns and Disaster

Dear Editor:
    Thanks to Richard Whittaker for his article "Guns, Disaster, and the Lege" (News, Sept. 7). It might interest readers to note that earlier the "gun lobby," in the form of the Texas State Rifle Association, was joined by the ACLU of Texas and the Texas Criminal Justice Association in supporting House Bill 823, which would clarify the state's laws governing transport of firearms. Heretofore, a citizen was subject to arrest and prosecution if he or she did not provide sufficient proof of "travel." HB 823, since signed into law, dropped the "county line" proviso in the old law and relieved the citizenry of fear of prosecution on those grounds. See: www.tsra.com/docs/AboveTheLaw.pdf.
    The Algiers Point Militia, according to the Oxford Press, patrolled that neighborhood for up to a week before someone caught sight of a New Orleans police officer. It is clear from the article the militia was needed. One citizen was struck down before his van was stolen, a house was burned by vandals, and numerous robbery attempts were thwarted. One involving a protracted gun battle in which criminals retreated, trailing blood.
    Meanwhile, New Orleans officials literally were going door-to-door, breaking in, and searching for guns.