U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp signed an executive order this week telling the U.S. National Guard to seize weapons and other private property as needed, according to documents acquired by The Daily Caller web site.
The Daily Caller obtained a copy of the governor’s order that directs Deborah Howell, the U.S. Virgin Islands adjutant general of the U.S. National Guard, to seize weapons, ammunition, and other property that may be needed for the National Guard’s emergency mission during recovery from Hurricane Irma.
Irma killed four people in the U.S. Virgin Islands and caused widespread damage to parts of the islands’ infrastructure, including to a major hospital.
“The Adjutant General is authorized and directed to seize arms, ammunition, explosives, incendiary material and any other property that may be required by the military forces for the performance of this emergency mission, in accordance with the Rules of Force promulgated by the Virgin Islands National Guard and approved by the Virgin Islands Department of Justice,” the order reads.
Like Gov. Bill Walker of Alaska, Mapp is a Republican who ran as an “independent,” without a political party in 2014, and assumed office a month after Walker was sworn in as Alaska’s governor. Walker and Mapp are the only two unaffiliated governors.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Mapp’s family moved to Saint Croix in the Virgin Islands in 1961.
In the interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News, Mapp attempted to back away from the order and explained that seizing weapons meant the National Guard could buy the weapons from stores.
Mapp told Carlson he didn’t mean the Adjutant General to “go into people’s homes” but to get what it needs “as the government acquires property on the open market without having to “go through the procurement processes of the government.”
During Hurricane Katrina preparations in 2005, New Orleans Police Chief Eddie Compass Chief of Police and Mayor Ray Nagin signed a similar order and police seized guns, rifles and other weapons in door-to-door searches.
“Only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons,” the Chief Compass ordered.
That blanket weapons ban led to Congress passing the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act (Vittner Amendment) in 2006, to prohibit authorities from confiscating weapons during emergencies.
So-called “independent” politicians can tend to avoid both the Constitution and reality it seems. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
I know there some decent people out there who identify themselves as Independents, but in the back of my mind I’ve always believed it means that you have no principles that you believe in…..just kind of open to whichever way the wind blows that day.
Walker in particular is a disaster. I can’t believe he is so lacking in awareness that he actually filed to run again. I seriously doubt he’ll get 5% of the vote next time. How could he not know that?
Tim asks, how could Walker be so vain that he files to run again. It’s because he surrounds him with people that insulate him from the real world. He does not care what Alaskans think, because he knows best (and his people confirm this constantly). All state employees, and their families, will vote for Walker. Because they know that Walker will punish the private sector, via taxes and PFD cuts, to pay for his fantasies. Fantasies like a gas line to nowhere and a bloated state beuracracy that is modeled on $100 oil. He is a state bureaucracy preservationist, and state employees know they will have their job, no matter how pointless it is, if Walker is governor. But there will not be enough votes from state employees to get him re-elected. Not even close.
Walker, Murkowski and 90% of the Alaska Legislators must be termed/voted out. Alaska needs term limits on all elected and appointed politicians, including Judges.
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