With what?

"'If you don't kill the criminals, they will all come back!' a Haitian police officer shouts over a loudspeaker in the country's most notorious slum, imploring citizens to take justice into their own hands."

That's all well and good to ask those residents to do, except for the conveniently overlooked fact that Haiti typifies the majority of the world's countries in denying the ownership and carry of firearms by law-abiding inhabitants.

Just what are those sitting duck targets of opportunity supposed to use in order to "kill" those armed attackers - their bare hands? 

The officer's request seems especially ludicrous given that he and the other supposed protectors of those residents are unable to control the complete anarchy in those neighborhoods, even though they themselves happen to be well-armed.  They sure are managing to provide cover for their fearless leaders, though:

"'Even as we are digging bodies out of buildings, they are trying to attack our officers,' Cite Soleil police Inspector Aristide Rosemond said, surrounded by officers wielding automatic weapons."

So how are those earthquake victims supposed to fare any better?

(By the way, we once again see that gun-control measures only serve to disarm solely the people who tend to obey the law in the first place; street criminals, even in slum neighborhoods in Third World countries like Haiti, are able to easily arm themselves despite the strict bans in place. Funny how that always seems to be the case.)

Just as with Hurricane Katrina in 2005, we see how thin the veneer of civilization really is, how quickly things go all cock-eyed in a disaster and how it always ultimately falls to the individual citizens to take responsibility for defending themselves and their loved ones in such a crisis.

That task is sure made easier when one possesses the proper tools for the job.