About 3,000 Chilean military troops now have a tight hold on the center of Chile’s second-largest city, located 70 miles from the epicenter of Saturday’s earthquake that devastated much of central Chile.But food, water and medical supplies are still slow to arrive in Concepcion. And concern about one of the world’s worst earthquakes in a century quickly shifted to an even greater worry about the mass of fellow residents breaking into shops left and right.
Soon after the earthquake, many of the city’s residents began to pour onto the streets. Eventually, hundreds of poor residents in search of food broke into supermarkets on Sunday. But that soon swelled into mobs ransacking whatever they could get their hands on in the city.
On Sunday evening around 6 p.m., a giant Lider supermarket on the corner of Prat and Maipu streets was targeted. The police at first reluctantly let some looters take away food, but when some started lugging out widescreen television sets, even laundry machines, the police stepped in with tear gas and water cannons.
Does it mean that after they loot for food and necessities, they begin on the luxury items, TVs, sterios, etc. Then, the logical progression is breaking into private homes to rape and pillage. Is that the idea?
The truth is, I suppose if I lived in the suburbs of Concepcion, I'd feel better with a gun. But is this a reason to arm oneself. Even if those looters were to begin going door to door, which is not all that likely, how likely is this to happen to the average American gun owner.Angelea Villalobos, 41, witnessed the ransacking of the Lider. As she sits amid the rubble of her 1932 home, which splattered into thousands of pieces, a coffee pot simmers over a small fire. She explains that her family has enough food to hold out for two or three more days.
Villalobos says she and her neighbors on Maipu Street remain vigilant 24 hours a day behind makeshift fences set up on each entrance to their street to keep the looters at bay. Last night, she heard bullets.
“Till yesterday, this was a lawless no man’s land,” said Villalobos.
Jose Gonzalez, 46, chief of a gas distribution service in Concepcion, shares a similar view. He and dozens of neighbors coordinate with hand-held radios and wield guns, knives and thick wooden sticks to protect their middle-class Valle Noble community about 10 minutes outside of town.
I'd say it's just about as likely as this.
What's your opinion? Please leave a comment.
"Even if those looters were to begin going door to door, which is not all that likely, how likely is this to happen to the average American gun owner."
ReplyDeleteLA Riots and Hurricane Katrina. In both cases American gun owners protected their property from roving bands of criminals.
Of course, in Bill O'Reilly's world, the armed citizens of Concepcion should be forcibly disarmed and forced off their property.
"The truth is, I suppose if I lived in the suburbs of Concepcion, I'd feel better with a gun. But is this a reason to arm oneself. Even if those looters were to begin going door to door, which is not all that likely, how likely is this to happen to the average American gun owner."
ReplyDeleteIt did happen:post Katrina New Orleans. Why would you see the need for Concepcion suburbanites to be armed but not New Orleans survivors?
Mt question is, why didn't they see the earthquake coming and gather food and water before it struck?
ReplyDeleteYeah, Katrina and the L.A. riots were examples. Now factor in how many years that spans and how many cities there are in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAfter you do that, start worrying about meteorites.
LA Riots, Hurricane Katrina, and it happened right here in my city after the Rodney King beating. There was total lawlessness in the city of Wilmington.
ReplyDeleteStore owners and homeowners guarded their property with rifles and shotguns.
Guess which stores didn't get looted & destroyed?
"Yeah, Columbine and Virginia Tech were examples. Now factor in how many years that spans and how many schools there are in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAfter you do that, start worrying about meteorites."
Do you still agree with your premis after my editing job?
Mikeb says:
ReplyDeleteYeah, Katrina and the L.A. riots were examples. Now factor in how many years that spans and how many cities there are in the U.S.
So the fact that it doesn't often happen--but does indisputably happen--is justification to mandate that people be stripped of the means to deal with it when it does eventually (inevitably somewhere, some time) happen? Care to guess where you can stick that idea, Mikeb?
After you do that, start worrying about meteorites.
Can you document one person being killed--anywhere in the world--ever, by a meteorite? I know about the one that bruised Ann Hodges in 1954, but don't know of any other verifiable meteorite strikes on humans.
In other words, the likelihood of being killed or badly injured by violent mobs during times of social breakdown, even in the U.S., is many orders of magnitude greater than being killed or injured by a meteorite.
Find another shtick, Mikeb.
"Even if those looters were to begin going door to door, which is not all that likely, how likely is this to happen to the average American gun owner."
ReplyDeleteIt only has to happen once. If you are prepared for that eventuality, then you should come out of it okay. If not, well then, you're trusting fate or luck or something to make sure that you come out okay.
You admit that were you in that situation, you would probably feel better with a gun. Is it not logical, therefore, to prepare for that?
Anyone can learn lessons from their own mistakes. A smart man learns lessons from others' mistakes. A lesson just happened in Chile. Did you learn from it?
I've got a fire extinguisher in my home and each car, but I've never had a fire (hopefully, I never will). Am I paranoid for taking that precaution? Is it somehow wrong to prepare for an eventuality that has shown with great consistency to be dangerous to life, limb, and property?
Why do you insist on making the analogy of meteorites? Does someone out there offer protection against meteorite strikes? If not, then it really isn't a valid comparison, is it?
The world is a dangerous place. You take the precautions against the things you can, and prepare the best you can to survive the things that are not in your control. Any rational being does that.
You have more than one meal's worth of food available to you, do you not? If you do, why? Can't you just go to the store anytime at all? Why do you feel the need to have extra food lying around? It's not like the truck isn't going to make it to your grocery store, or the local restaurants won't have some food, right?
Having a sidearm just makes sense, for situations exactly like this one.
"Yeah, Katrina and the L.A. riots were examples. Now factor in how many years that spans and how many cities there are in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteAfter you do that, start worrying about meteorites."
To take a refrain from the gun control book, once is more than enough reason.
Mikeb is right!
ReplyDeleteAfter all, there are no highly populated areas of the US where earthquakes are likely.
MikeB: “The truth is, I suppose if I lived in the suburbs of Concepcion, I'd feel better with a gun. But is this a reason to arm oneself. Even if those looters were to begin going door to door, which is not all that likely, how likely is this to happen to the average American gun owner.”
ReplyDeleteActually I see this as the most likely scenario for me needing to protect myself and my family with a firearm. I highly doubt I will ever face a burglar in my home in my life. I will probably get mugged on the street at some point, but I won’t be armed so I will be at their mercy. But I do live in an urban neighborhood on a fault line in CA, and when the big one hits, there will be rioting, looting and general mayhem on my streets. Those who wish to take advantage of the lawless period will most likely pass on my house or my immediate neighbors and choose houses that are safer to loot.
-TS