I carried openly(CETME) in NOLA after Katrina and the NOPD and Jefferson Parish Deputies gave you the once over in judgment. I never had a problem going through many roadblocks. Idiots shooting at LE and helicopters had problems. I did have issues with out of area LE that manned roadblocks, but they deferred to local LE and the issue went away. I always thought that was professional of them and actually demonstrated intelligence and common sense.
Parts of the 82nd were down in NOLA and they used common sense as well. Myself and the only other guy left in our neighborhood posted up every day at opposite ends of the block to show there were armed people there. Mil that came by waved, or dropped off water and talked to us. We stayed out of sight most of the time,(didn't think it was wise considering what was going on to be out in the open) but our signs about shooting looters and our every so often presence kept the area safe except for one incident. It also helped that Jeff. Parish Sheriff Harry Lee made it clear on the radio many times that citizens had the right to shoot people that crossed onto their property without permission. I think this was okayed under martial law and was how he could issue these statements. My neighbor had a bullhorn that he regularly made announcements to the looters literally across the canal that they would be shot if they crossed into our "territory." Every morning they spread out and looted stores in the area for about a week. At night, most people, looters included, locked themselves indoors and sat around armed if they could. Looting mainly was confined to stores.
We were lucky in that two sides of our block backed up to canals with high fences. I liked "patrolling" b/c it allowed me to get out of a mold filled house. Within 2 days, the house had mold growing. It was unbelievable. Lots of stories, not enough space.
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