Firing Back: Consider Being In Haiti and Being Unarmed

The disaster that’s unfolding in the Carribean nation of Haiti is still unmeasured in its ferocity. With nearly the entire capital city apparently wiped from the map, the death toll could top 100,000. Mass destruction, complete loss of infrastructure, communications shot to hell and the national police and military facing an untenable catastrophe makes security the number one issue. Factually crime follows natural disaster; looting, cons, burglary, extortion, price gouging and innumerable criminal behavior by those desperate and those seeking to take advantage.

Additionally, criminal civil unrest derails the ability of aid agencies who may refuse to transport aid at the risk of their lives. As sad as it is to say, it’s almost a certainty that there will be many criminal organizations who will try to profit from the death and misery of others in Haiti. The criminal element will be armed and the poor citizenry of this small dictatorial island nation will be at their mercy.

From the unpredictible fury of nature to the threat of Islamic extremists, as events unfold in Haiti, it should be a somber lesson that Americans and American families should be prepared to fend for themselves for at least a week in the event of a catastrophic emergencies. This means food, water, medical supplies and weapons for personal security. Having a survival mentality and being prepared to be responsible for your own security in the event of a temporary or semi-permanent societal breakdown isn’t some whacky, kook-fringe pass time. The lessons from the stories of menaced citizens threatened by armed thugs in the street and neighborhoods of New Orleans after Katrina confirms that only a fool would compromise the safety and security of one’s family because of an irrational fear of firearms or a self-imposed refusal to believe that society could be so cruel as to warrant the precaution of bearing arms.

While accolades for the world’s humanitarianism efforts will inspire and remind us of the goodness in the hearts of man, there will be stories of fear, intimidation and murder, by both criminal elements and the desperate concerned with profit or survival. They will seek out the weak, the frail, the shaken and the unarmed and they will have their way with them.

Chris A., Msgt, USAF (Ret)