If you look at the photo below from last Saturday's Los Angeles Times (click for enlargement), first brought to our attention by Citizens Of America creative director Jim Houck, you can see that the guardsman is holding a rifle with no ammunition magazine. At most, this rifle has one cartridge in the chamber, but that is extremely doubtful.

The message this photo sends to terrorists and copy-cat lunatics:

This California airport is NOT protected by armed Guardsmen.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

1) What happens if the guardsman actually needs to use his firearm to defend the people he is there to defend? Is he supposed to use it as a club?

2) Is the entire staff of the L.A. Times so ignorant about guns that they didn't realize they were exposing an obvious flaw in Governor Davis' "protective measures" at the airport? Didn't anybody on the Times' staff realize the message the Times was sending when they printed this picture?

3) What is the real reason the National Guardsmen at this airport are carrying empty guns?

4) Who were all of the people involved in making the decision to assure that these guardsmen were carrying what amount to expensive clubs? Are they guilty of dereliction of duty? If so, if something happens at the airport that requires an armed response and results in loss of life due to the Guardsmen's inability to respond with armed force, can those responsible for emasculating the Guardsmen be held legally and criminally liable?

5) Does anybody actually think a terrorist wouldn't see an empty gun with a single glance? If a terrorist immediately sees that a gun is empty, is he supposed to be afraid, perhaps because the guy holding it is wearing a military outfit and hold a fancy club?

NOTE: If this information was emailed to you, we include the following link to the enlarged picture showing a neutered "guardsman" in order to let you draw your own conclusions: http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/images/unarmed_Nat_Guard.jpg.

ACTION: If you would like to call the L.A. Times and urge them to address the issue of unarmed "guards" "guarding" the airport, here is the number to their newsdesk: (213) 237-5000.  You can also contact Gov. Davis:

Governor Gray Davis
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633
[email protected]