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1. Police are murdering people. 2. Only the police should have guns. Choose one.

gopalv 6y ago
Is that a dichotomy? The "only the police" almost makes it sound like that is what is being discussed around gun control laws. The cops in the US are definitely more jumpy than I'm comfortable with - their natural reaction to a car door closing and someone (or is it just me, I look like a rake with an afro) stepping towards them is to touch their gun, because they treat every person as possibly armed & dangerous. And it's not like I was in a high crime area either, all I needed was to know my way to SJC having missed 85.
dragontamer 6y ago
Would the Police have shot Brianna Taylor if her boyfriend wasn't shooting at the cops? Sure, no-knock warrants were a problem. But Kenneth Walker's gun didn't make the situation any better. I'm not "victim blaming" Kenneth Walker or Brianna Taylor here. Its absolutely the cops fault for messing up the no-knock warrant. But in a country with 2nd amendment, cops have the difficult job of entering homes vs armed neutral parties. In the UK, cops can go in with nothing but a baton and be fine, because the UK citizenry don't have as many guns as US citizens do. -------- There's a huge and fundamental difference between UK cops and US cops if only because of the 2nd Amendment issue. Each encounter with the citizenry, even if they are neutral, can end up deadly due to our huge proliferation of guns. That stress in of itself could be making our cops more trigger happy, because US Cops enter life-or-death situations in higher frequency than other countries.
- pluto9 6y ago
  It isn't Kenneth Walker's responsibility to "make the situation better". It is the police's responsibility to not create an unnecessary life-threatening situation in the first place. You're arguing that people should be deprived of the ability to defend themselves so that the police don't have to worry about the repercussions of trampling on their civil rights, and that somehow this will result in less trampling. Ban no-knock raids (which have dubious legality anyway) and situations like this wouldn't happen. Better yet, end the war on drugs altogether. Kenneth Walker keeps his right to self-defense, Breonna Taylor lives, no officer gets shot, the constitution remains unviolated, and nobody goes to jail for victimless crimes. Everybody wins. It is astounding to me that people argue "disarm Kenneth Walker so the police can fuck up his (wrong) house stress-free" is a better solution than that.
progval 6y ago
Alternative to 2: No one should have guns
- beervirus 6y ago
  A long as were in fantasy land, everyone should get unicorns too.

Is that a dichotomy? The "only the police" almost makes it sound like that is what is being discussed around gun control laws. The cops in the US are definitely more jumpy than I'm comfortable with - their natural reaction to a car door closing and someone (or is it just me, I look like a rake with an afro) stepping towards them is to touch their gun, because they treat every person as possibly armed & dangerous. And it's not like I was in a high crime area either, all I needed was to know my way to SJC having missed 85.

dragontamer 6y ago

Would the Police have shot Brianna Taylor if her boyfriend wasn't shooting at the cops? Sure, no-knock warrants were a problem. But Kenneth Walker's gun didn't make the situation any better. I'm not "victim blaming" Kenneth Walker or Brianna Taylor here. Its absolutely the cops fault for messing up the no-knock warrant. But in a country with 2nd amendment, cops have the difficult job of entering homes vs armed neutral parties. In the UK, cops can go in with nothing but a baton and be fine, because the UK citizenry don't have as many guns as US citizens do. -------- There's a huge and fundamental difference between UK cops and US cops if only because of the 2nd Amendment issue. Each encounter with the citizenry, even if they are neutral, can end up deadly due to our huge proliferation of guns. That stress in of itself could be making our cops more trigger happy, because US Cops enter life-or-death situations in higher frequency than other countries.

pluto9 6y ago
It isn't Kenneth Walker's responsibility to "make the situation better". It is the police's responsibility to not create an unnecessary life-threatening situation in the first place. You're arguing that people should be deprived of the ability to defend themselves so that the police don't have to worry about the repercussions of trampling on their civil rights, and that somehow this will result in less trampling. Ban no-knock raids (which have dubious legality anyway) and situations like this wouldn't happen. Better yet, end the war on drugs altogether. Kenneth Walker keeps his right to self-defense, Breonna Taylor lives, no officer gets shot, the constitution remains unviolated, and nobody goes to jail for victimless crimes. Everybody wins. It is astounding to me that people argue "disarm Kenneth Walker so the police can fuck up his (wrong) house stress-free" is a better solution than that.

progval 6y ago

Alternative to 2: No one should have guns

beervirus 6y ago
A long as were in fantasy land, everyone should get unicorns too.