Good Shot Group
Member
Don't know if most of you are aware of the firearm limitations placed on your everyday Iraqi after the fall of Saddam in 2003. I was in the first MP unit to enter Baghdad after the fall in 03 and we stayed there until May of 04
After the fall, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which was put in place by Bush to manage and run Iraq until they could have elections, declared that no Iraqi citizen could own firearms. Being law abiding folks, most all Iraqi's complied with this law. This law lasted from April 03 to about August 03. During that time, I saw a steady stream of victims of violent crime perpetrated by, you guessed it, criminals who had firearms that weren't abiding by the law. I cannot tell you how many innocent people and families I saw during that time that were preyed upon by this criminal element (i.e. murdered).
Somewhere along the line, in the summer of 03, the CPA saw that the gun control laws weren't working to stem violence. They changed their mind and decided that Iraqi citizens could own one AK-47 and no more than 500 rounds of ammunition per household. After the law changed, the steady stream of victims I saw before turned into a steady stream of criminals that were "dealt with" by your average law abiding citizen (i.e. dead criminals).
I remember distinctly one night after the firearm ban was lifted, we responded to shots fired at a residence in the New Baghdad area of Baghdad. When we arrived on scene, we found two dead youth that had been killed by small arms fire. The person behind the AK-47? A 70 year old woman that didn't take kindly to these two people trying to rob her. We conducted our investigation and told her, "Good Work". She responded, "If more robbers come for me, I will fill the graveyard with their bodies".
I have never been and will never be anti gun. The failed attempt at gun control in Baghdad showed me what happens when the right of the people to defend themselves is taken from them. The weak are at the mercy of the strong. Gun control only makes more victims. I will not be one of those victims. P.S. Buy more ammo, you never have enough.
After the fall, the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), which was put in place by Bush to manage and run Iraq until they could have elections, declared that no Iraqi citizen could own firearms. Being law abiding folks, most all Iraqi's complied with this law. This law lasted from April 03 to about August 03. During that time, I saw a steady stream of victims of violent crime perpetrated by, you guessed it, criminals who had firearms that weren't abiding by the law. I cannot tell you how many innocent people and families I saw during that time that were preyed upon by this criminal element (i.e. murdered).
Somewhere along the line, in the summer of 03, the CPA saw that the gun control laws weren't working to stem violence. They changed their mind and decided that Iraqi citizens could own one AK-47 and no more than 500 rounds of ammunition per household. After the law changed, the steady stream of victims I saw before turned into a steady stream of criminals that were "dealt with" by your average law abiding citizen (i.e. dead criminals).
I remember distinctly one night after the firearm ban was lifted, we responded to shots fired at a residence in the New Baghdad area of Baghdad. When we arrived on scene, we found two dead youth that had been killed by small arms fire. The person behind the AK-47? A 70 year old woman that didn't take kindly to these two people trying to rob her. We conducted our investigation and told her, "Good Work". She responded, "If more robbers come for me, I will fill the graveyard with their bodies".
I have never been and will never be anti gun. The failed attempt at gun control in Baghdad showed me what happens when the right of the people to defend themselves is taken from them. The weak are at the mercy of the strong. Gun control only makes more victims. I will not be one of those victims. P.S. Buy more ammo, you never have enough.
