Virgin Islands seizes guns and ammo

[parabelum]

"U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp signed an emergency order allowing the seizure of private guns, ammunition, explosives and property the National Guard may need to respond to Hurricane Irma."


http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/05/virgi ... cane-irma/

[Beiruty]

So now the national guard would start shooting in the air...

[Soccerdad1995]

"U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp signed an emergency order allowing the seizure of private guns, ammunition, explosives and property the National Guard may need to respond to Hurricane Irma."


http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/05/virgi ... cane-irma/

Is this just poorly worded or are they saying that the National Guard is so poorly equipped that they actually need to seize weapons and explosives from folks to respond to the Hurricane? I'm presuming they need the weapons to fight looters and the like instead of shooting at the actual hurricane.

Hopefully, they can figure out how to operate the myriad various weapon systems they are planning to seize....

[parabelum]

"U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp signed an emergency order allowing the seizure of private guns, ammunition, explosives and property the National Guard may need to respond to Hurricane Irma."


http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/05/virgi ... cane-irma/

Is this just poorly worded or are they saying that the National Guard is so poorly equipped that they actually need to seize weapons and explosives from folks to respond to the Hurricane? I'm presuming they need the weapons to fight looters and the like instead of shooting at the actual hurricane.

Hopefully, they can figure out how to operate the myriad various weapon systems they are planning to seize....

From what I read, the order is issued "to protect the islands...".

So I guess it's what Beiruty said above.

[flechero]

i could see it if the guns float...

Seems like those resources would be better served boarding up windows or sandbagging homes & businesses. And if afterwards, perhaps search and rescue/recovery is more important. ?

And wouldn't the Nat'l guard already have their own weapons???? What "explosives and incendiary" devices would they need to respond to a hurricane?

Maybe I'm naive, but the order seems out of line with priorities.

[Soccerdad1995]

"U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp signed an emergency order allowing the seizure of private guns, ammunition, explosives and property the National Guard may need to respond to Hurricane Irma."


http://dailycaller.com/2017/09/05/virgi ... cane-irma/

Is this just poorly worded or are they saying that the National Guard is so poorly equipped that they actually need to seize weapons and explosives from folks to respond to the Hurricane? I'm presuming they need the weapons to fight looters and the like instead of shooting at the actual hurricane.

Hopefully, they can figure out how to operate the myriad various weapon systems they are planning to seize....

From what I read, the order is issued "to protect the islands...".

So I guess it's what Beiruty said above.

Well if their National Guard really is that ill equipped they may not have ever trained with actual weapons and may not fully understand that your average AR is not all that effective at fighting off a hurricane. Just wait until their National Guard needs to start seizing stuffed animals to fight off a foreign invasion.

[rotor]

Where is the ACLU when you really need them?

[JustSomeOldGuy]

23 V.I.C. § 1522

Virgin Islands Code Annotated
Copyright © 2017 Office of the Code Revisor, Legislature of the Virgin Islands
All rights reserved.

*** Statutes current through Act 7981 of the 31st Legislature, including all code changes through March 2, 2017 ***

TITLE TWENTY-THREE Internal Security and Public Order
Chapter 19. National Guard
Subchapter I. General Provisions

23 V.I.C. § 1522 (2017)

§ 1522. Authority of Governor for the attachment of articles and to order the closing of establishments

Whenever the Governor orders part or all of the military forces of the Virgin Islands into Territorial Active Military Service under section 1519 he may, by written order--

(1) Direct the Adjutant General or other appropriate authority to seize arms, ammunition, explosives, incendiary material, and any other property that may be required by the military forces.

(2) Prohibit the sale, exchange, loan or donation, during the emergency of arms, ammunition, explosives, gasoline, incendiary material or alcoholic beverages, and the closing of any establishment in which any such property is found.

(3) Declare a curfew, during such periods and with respect to such areas and persons as in his discretion the public safety requires.

(4) Any other powers authorized by law.

Upon termination of the emergency, compensation shall be paid by the Government of the Virgin Islands for the loss, damage, or destruction of any private property taken for Government purposes during the emergency.

HISTORY: --Added Feb. 8, 1973, No. 3363, § 1, Sess. L. 1972, p. 558.



and if you look at the Summary Table in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_ ... in_Islands the situation looks a lot more like Canada or Mexico than it does U.S. soil (or should I say 'U.S. sand'?).

[Excaliber]

As we and the governor all know, the order will only disarm the law abiding citizens who will now have no defense against the armed thugs who will completely take over if there is massive damage. From the governor's side, Irma is just an excuse to end gun ownership in the islands without saying that's what he's doing.

The VI isn't short of thugs who have to be celebrating knowing they won't be opposed and the national guard will be almost completely ineffective in stopping them from rampaging as they will.

The situation is another reminder that elections have consequences, and that egregious unconstitutional emergency order provisions enacted when there is no emergency can come back to haunt much later.

The same order would have very little effect in Texas because such things can't be done effectively without the registration of guns and owners or a wholly cooperative citizenry.

The attempts to register modern sporting rifles in New York and Connecticut suggest that the wholly cooperative citizen idea isn't likely to work, so that leaves registration is the only viable route to confiscation.

Seems to me the folks in the VI are pretty much up the creek without a paddle unless there is a rash of thefts or boating accidents with guns that went overboard before the end of the week.......

[parabelum]

So, what if you don't comply? You get a Ruby Ridge like response? How do they know who is armed on the VI, or who has more then one evil gun? How corrupt is the VI NG?

Do they have bananas over there?

[stroo]

Maybe they are expecting sharknados!!!

[The Annoyed Man]

This is why God gave some inventive man the vision to invent the shovel. I would buy all the vizqueen I could get my hands on, to "waterproof my house", and I would wrap my heavily lubricated guns and ammo in it, bury it the back yard, and put the sod back down over the filled in hole.

"Guns? What guns? I threw them over the side of my fishing boat two years ago when I heard how evil the enumerated right to keep and bear arms is."

[Oldgringo]

It has been years and years since we've been in the VI. Hasn't the AVI had a big upsurge in crime against tourists in recent years?

[Excaliber]

It has been years and years since we've been in the VI. Hasn't the AVI had a big upsurge in crime against tourists in recent years?

I've been there recently for work, and the crimes are not just against tourists - they're pretty egalitarian about who they victimize.

Article about their murder rate (highest in the US in 2016) here.

[ELB]

https://www.nraila.org/articles/2015082 ... in-america

As a result of the New Orleans city government seizing private arms (emphasis added):

In 2006, moreover, President George W. Bush signed into law the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which contained an NRA-backed amendment sponsored by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). The amendment prohibits persons acting under color of federal law, receiving federal funds, or acting at the direction of a federal employee from seizing or authorizing the seizure of lawfully-possessed firearms or imposing or enforcing certain restrictions on firearms during a state of emergency.

Think the VI gets any federal funds?