Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Expected Reaction

What kind of reaction do you think you would get if you approached any police officer and tried to take his sidearm?

What reaction would you expect from police if you told them that you were going to require them to carry their pistols in their trunks and unloaded?

What would the police say if you told them they are not allowed to have a black rifle, or a rifle with a pistol grip, or a rifle with picatinny rails and flashlight?

With some exceptions, policemen are civilians. They deserve our gratitude and respect for doing the jobs many of us care not to do. They regularly face the worst that humanity has to offer. They are not, collectively, the lone recipients of society’s transgressions, though.

This is not a post advocating disarming police. This is a post against disarming the public.

I am a strong advocate for police. (Note: This is different from being an advocate for strong police – though I certainly see the need for them to maintain heavy arms and S.W.A.T.) When police – or “police chiefs” – start to lay claim to my rights, they quickly lose my respect, my gratitude, and my advocacy.

Policemen are integral parts of our communities. They are our neighbors, relatives, and friends. Police should not be a protected class of people. When they are, a police state naturally follows.

Saying people do not need “assault weapons” is as irrelevant as it is incorrect. When facing an armed mob, even so called assault weapons are inadequate.

I view with much disgust the “presidential position” of endorsing an assault weapons ban. I use the term “presidential position” because the current president and the president-elect both support it.

Saying “the police support it” is, if you will pardon the expression, a copout.

I will make a statement that is guilty of a logical fallacy but is very likely true all then same: Policemen are generally decent people who do not get violent without good reason.

Try to approach a policeman and take his sidearm from him and he will get violent very quickly. Try to approach the American population to take their weapons and the result will be very much the same.

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