The Mommy State Says “You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out”
By Mitch Berg
And we thought TV weatherpeople overreacted to snowstorms.
King, North Carolina slapped on some amazing, draconian – and utterly irrelevant – restrictions during their recent round of flurries, imposing a curfew, banning alcohol sales, and banning the sale of firearms and ammunition, or possession of either off of one’s property.
In other words, they declared a police state. Over snow.
It’s over – sort of. Mayor Frank Burns and Police Chief Dwight Shrute have lifted some of the restricti0ns:
Authorities lifted a curfew and alcohol restrictions in King on Sunday, but said a state of emergency declaration remained in effect until Monday.
Authorities said the state of emergency declaration would continue until Monday 9 a.m., barring any unforeseen circumstances or severe changes.
OK, I was pulling your legs about the Burns and Shrute bit. Not that it isn’t fully appropriate.
The rest of it, though?
Effective Sunday afternoon, alcohol restrictions and a curfew were lifted. All other remaining restrictions would continue until Monday, said Paula May, King police chief.
Other restrictions include a ban on the sale or purchase of any type of firearm, ammunition, explosive or any possession of such items off a person’s own premises.
Also on Sunday, the emergency shelter established by the American red Cross at West Stokes High School was closed.
“We appreciate the support and cooperation of everyone with our efforts to keep the citizens of King safe,” May said.
Well, to be fair to the citizens of King, it sounds like if they didn’t “support and cooperate”, they might have wound up spending the weekend in an emergency shelter of a different kind.
Anyone know where a guy can contribute to a campaign to recall Hauptmann “Chief” May?
February 8th, 2010 at 10:52 am
[…] Cross-posted at Shot In The Dark. […]
February 8th, 2010 at 10:55 am
how dare you question our leaders Mitch don’t you know they always know what’s best for us? Us conservative peoples don’t understand that these people really do have our best interests at heart even if it seems draconian. Stop reading 1984, in fact any book that questions government authority should probably be burned so we don’t get any ideas. /sarcasm
February 8th, 2010 at 11:21 am
Ok, I can understand, sort of, the prohibition on alcohol…….no, I take that back, I can’t. And the prohibitions on firearms? and the curfew?
What in the world were these supposed to accomplish? Were they afraid some drunken fool would try to clear the snow drifts with explosives? Ok, not that some sort of short cut isn’t a passing thought to anyone sick of moving the stuff off of driveways, sidewalks and so on……but seriously???
February 8th, 2010 at 11:48 am
Lifting an alcohol ban, allowing sales on Sunday? I’m surprised they survived the weekend!
February 8th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
This is a city of about 6,000, comparitive to Cambridge, MN. I cannot for the life of me remember Cambridge ever intituting a State of Emergency order following ANY kind of storm. Then again King has Ms. May to “protect” them in their moment of dire need.
Here is a picture of Ms. May:http://www.ci.king.nc.us/vertical/Sites/%7BF66D84C7-020F-42FF-9AB2-093062E31F9B%7D/uploads/%7B7F31B379-904C-4688-B955-FECD1BDA779B%7D.JPG
She sure looks all protectee-servee!
February 8th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
The funniest thing is that in the South, a few inches of snow effectively shuts everything down. No need to do a darned thing except ask for some help plowing the roads and getting emergency vehicles to those who need them.
Second funniest (and sad) thing; the police chief appears ignorant of the fact that by invoking emergency powers, she DID in fact invoke those infringements on rights.
February 9th, 2010 at 8:37 am
They must do things differently in North Carolina. Around here, only the Governor has the power to suspend the Constitution and declare martial law.
Keep a lid on this story – we don’t want the Mayor of St. Paul getting any more bright ideas.
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