"When the `Katricians' themselves are quoted as saying the crime rate is going to go up if they don't get more free rent, then it's time to get your concealed-handgun license.” a voice on Houston radio proclaims. Gun shop owner and radio talk-show host, Jim Pruett, voiced this ad. Of course this has become a war of words between the Liberals and Conservatives of this Texas metropolis. Natural disasters take lives, destroy property and levy an emotional toll on humanity. They also bring out the best and worst of human behavior.
The first response by criminals is always looting and as police are unable to deal with or prevent crime the gangsters naturally escalate their lawlessness. Of course the law-abiding victims of such catastrophes were the obvious prey for the armed thugs.
During and after the evacuations of New Orleans the despot Mayor, Ray Nagin ordered police to rob law abiding citizens of their legally owned firearms and ammunition leaving them helpless unable to defend against the roving gangs of home invasion robbers and rapists. Unfortunately a tyrant politician put the police on the wrong side of the law as the courts soon ruled. It’s amazing some citizen resisting the armed robbery of his firearms did not kill some cop. If that happened it would have been a justifiable homicide. No honorable cop should ever violate his oath of office to enforce some crackpot politician’s obviously unlawful directive.
The generous citizens of Houston opened their homes and arms for the victims of Hurricane Katrina taking in, a quarter-million refugees. They came to Houston in busses, some chartered and other stolen. The crime rate and murders began to soar as a result. With 120,000 evacuees remaining after their free money ran out the crime rate won’t be coming down any time soon.
Houston police say that Katrina evacuees are suspects or victims in 59 of Houston's 262 homicides between January 1 and August 26. That the upper-middle-class, West Houston residents have blamed evacuees for violent crime rates that have increased almost 14 percent in one district and homicides that have nearly doubled in another.
Within two weeks of the Katrina refugees being kicked out of Houston’s hotels I was sent there on an assignment. They were making serious renovations to hotels everywhere in town because of the wanton and outrageous destruction to the rooms and property of the inns caused by their former guests. Most of the hotel employees where I checked in were bitter for their experience with these freeloaders.
It’s too bad the Katrina refugees could not be sent to a city that voted to ban handguns. Anyone foolish enough to support gun bans deserve a lesson too many Katrina evacuees are only too willing to provide.
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