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Amidst the many acts of courage and kindness we have seen below Los Angeles infernosa darker side of human nature has also emerged as cases of looting increase. Unfortunately, in gun-violent California, homeowners have few self-defense options.
The police have already charged more than 20 people with loot. A depraved couple went so far as to dress up as firefighters to help themselves to the valuables of victims whose homes were abandoned or destroyed.
PLOVERS MAKING FIRE DEPARTMENTS, EXTENSION WORKERS TO ROT OUT TRANSIENT HOMES IN LA
Obviously, with the winds still whipping the deadly fires around Tinseltown, all resources, including the police, are stretched to the breaking point, giving hardened thieves a target-rich environment for their crimes.
One thing these Los Angeles thugs can count on is that if they run into a homeowner in the middle of their robbery, there’s little chance the person will point a gun at them.
A firefighter jumps a fence while battling the Palisades fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Ethan Swope/AP)
In the free state of Florida, where the Second Amendment that protects gun rights is revered, not reviled, would-be looters know, after hurricanes, for example, that stealing from the wrong house can be a death sentence.
They know because Gov. Ron DeSantis told them after Hurricane Milton damaged thousands of homes last year.
“If you go into someone’s house after the storm has passed, think you’re going to be able to commit crimes, you’re going to get into really serious trouble.” DeSantis promised, adding, “And frankly, you don’t know what’s behind that door in a Second Amendment state.”
Hear, hear.
There are really two ways in which the unarmed people of Los Angeles are put at risk by the draconian anti-gun laws of the Golden State. The first is that individuals cannot protect themselves and their property, but the second, and it may be worse, is that criminals are very well aware of this.
When we think about the reasons we have the Second Amendment, it is often noted that it is for self-defense, and also a check on government power. But in California we see a third cause, which is exactly this type of emergency.
Florida’s Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has a warning for looters trying to take advantage of areas affected by Hurricane Milton. (Fox News Digital)
Angelenos don’t need guns to overthrow their government, not yet anyway, but they do need them to hold down the fort, or house, so to speak, while the government pours all its resources into disaster management.
In fact, when you look at gun ownership rates by state, it’s rural states like Montana that have the most guns per capita. This is precisely because, while in a city, state protection in the form of the police is always a few minutes away, in the countryside it is often not.
That’s exactly where Los Angeles residents find themselves today. City and state governments are overwhelmed, people need to protect themselves, and short-sighted anti-gun politicians are preventing them from doing so.
That’s why we’re seeing reports of some of the wealthy in LA paying for private security to protect their homes, which I guess is fine if you’re a millionaire, but if not it makes you even more vulnerable.
Frankly, in many cases all it would take to deter would-be looters from throwing the dice with their lives would be a handful of openly armed men in a neighborhood watch patrolling their neighborhood.
But the progressive leadership in California, who incidentally have also armed security at taxpayer expense, will not allow the average Joe to protect his family with his own gun.
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Progressive gun policies like the one in California, like so many other progressive policies, are intended to make citizens weaker, more vulnerable, and more dependent on the state. It’s open and clear in LA today.
Hopefully, when this emergency passes, Californians will realize how important their gun rights really are and demand their restoration. Meanwhile, thousands upon thousands are simply helpless.
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Los Angeles District Attorney Nate Hochman was selected to handle the crime. Here is his first chance. If the city does not allow its citizens to protect themselves, then the punishment for looting must be massive, like this year in prison.
But frankly, it is not and never will be an adequate substitute for an armed populace, which is exactly what the Founders understood when they enshrined our God-given right to gun ownership.
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