Helena Curfew Extended

Helena's city council has voted unanimously to allow their police force to expand the area under curfew.

I've already made my position clear on the matter. This is a violation of rights protected by the Constitution. But these quotes by the mayor and a council member just leave me shaking mad.

From the Log Cabin Democrat's article:

Mayor James Valley:"Now if somebody wants to sue us, they have an option to sue, but I'm fairly certain that a judge will see it the way the way the citizens see it here. The citizens deserve peace, that some infringement on constitutional rights is OK and we have not violated anything as far as the Constitution."

So it's okay to infringe on constitutional rights as long as you don't violate the Constitution? Could someone explain that one to me?

Oh, and the citizens deserve peace? Really? I'm disinclined to agree with that statement. I'm in good company, too. Benjamin Franklin once said, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Also from the Log Cabin's article:

The council rejected Dickson's claims, at one point questioning the Little Rock-based attorney if she'd live in a neighborhood they described as under siege by wild gunfire and gangs.

"As far as I'm concerned, at 3 o'clock in the morning, nobody has any business being on the street, except the law," Councilman Eugene "Red" Johnson said. "Anyone out at 3 o'clock shouldn't be out on the street, unless you're going to the hospital."

Any one care to lay odds on whether Mr. Johnson would feel the same way if it was his neighborhood that was under the curfew?

I'm not going to touch much on the assertion that local drug dealers "carry...AK47 assault rifles...". A rifle built around the AK's action, maybe, but I sincerely doubt that the local hooligans have access to true AK47s. You know, the full-auto, military-grade small arm that have been banned from importation since 1986. My bet is that it's the common WASR-type rifles that are built up on US-made, semi-auto only receivers and are dirt cheap right now.

In closing, I believe I need to make my position perfectly clear: Nothing the police can do will be able to save this neighborhood. Nothing the mayor can do will be able to save this neighborhood. Nothing the city council can do will be able to save this neighborhood. The only way for this neighborhood to be saved is for the residents to decide that they will not stand idly by when they or their neighbors are assaulted. They need to make life too difficult for the goblins who are causing the problems. They know who these people are. They know who and where to keep an eye on for problems. And since this state is one of the few that are still relatively free, they have the ability to purchase arms for their common defense.

Yes, by doing this, uninvolved people are likely to get hurt. But the question is, which is more acceptable? A few people hurt over a short period of time while the neighborhood does the right thing and tries to sort itself out? Or a few people hurt by goblins who then go about their evil ways unmolested and are thereby emboldened to continue hurting more and more people with no end in sight?

Think about that for a minute.