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> except for the police walking around with assault weapons So you've never been to North America. Where is it you're comparing Paris to, such that it seems li

> except for the police walking around with assault weapons So you've never been to North America. Where is it you're comparing Paris to, such that it seems like every other big western city?

samatman 3y ago
I've been to most major American cities, and Toronto, and D.F., as well as Paris and Brussels. What Paris and Brussels have in common with D.F., which they do not share with either the major American cities or Toronto, is police open-carrying machine guns.
- justin66 3y ago
  I assume by "machine guns" you mean rifles, and by "open carrying" you mean "carrying." (there's no way to carry a rifle concealed) I have no idea what "D.F." is. Another response above mentioned that American cops generally keep the long gun in the car. Since today we've got National Guardsmen with rifles in the NY subways acting as police, this conversation all feels a little tone deaf, but it's fair enough to point out that French law enforcement do like their rifles. I noticed that the first time I used a French airport, though, not out in the street. I don't remember ever seeing police walking in Paris, although I admit that I was a pretty sheltered tourist there. (I bet there's a more nuanced conversation to be had here about the difference between police and gendarmerie and I just don't know enough about it, except I sort of wonder what the OP was doing that caused him to cross paths with heavily armed law enforcement outside of the airport or government buildings. Maybe Paris really has changed.)
  - samatman 3y ago
    > I assume by "machine guns" you mean rifles I mean both fully-automatic rifles and submachine guns, but sure, I never saw someone lugging around an M2 like a 1980s action character. > and by "open carrying" you mean "carrying." I mainly meant to contrast it with having one easily accessible in their squad car, actually. American police do have long rifles, although these are mostly semiauto. Since there is no way to carry a rifle concealed, all carry is in fact open carry... or is it? Is a rifle in a case open carry? It is not. The term means something in the U.S., and I was using it correctly. In places where citizens have the right to open carry, this applies to a slung rifle as well, in places where they do not, it's legal to carry a rifle, but it must be in a case. > I have no idea what "D.F." is. Distrito Federal, Ciudad de México. Had you been a bit more curious, the answer is very easy to determine: https://www.google.com/search?q=D.F+city https://www.google.com/search?q=D.F+city This is no stranger than referring to New York City as NYC, it is an utterly commonplace term for the city, the one which Mexicans normally use in referring to it. > Since today we've got National Guardsmen with rifles in the NY subways acting as police, this conversation all feels a little tone deaf That may be the case, I've been to New York many times but not for many years now. If I had seen this, I would have mentioned it. I don't see what about this conversation is tone deaf, other than perhaps your refusal to read what I said with reasonable generosity, or look up a common term for the largest city in North America when you didn't recognize it. > I noticed that the first time I used a French airport, though, not out in the street. They do tend to cluster around airports and train stations in both Paris and Brussels, although not exclusively. In D.F. you'll see machine guns open carried pretty much anywhere, true throughout Mexico in fact.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - TeaBrain 3y ago
    DF is an abbreviation of Distrito Federal, a name for Mexico City. It was changed officially in 2016 to just Ciudad de Mexico/CDMX.
    - justin66 3y ago
      Thanks!
MeImCounting 3y ago
Having lived in america my whole life and been to many different major cities I can say that the police keep their long guns in the car generally.
- justin66 3y ago
  In the United States the AR or shotgun will generally be kept in the car. It's fairly common to see automatic weapons in Mexico, depending on where you are. (I don't remember how the Canadian police typically do things. I think I was dazzled by how attractive the police officers in Canada are compared to the United States, particularly in Montreal, but they definitely carry pistols and wear kevlar...)
  - MeImCounting 3y ago
    I havent really spent much time in mexico but in my experience cops in canada also generally keep long guns in the car.
    - justin66 3y ago
      Thanks. It's not too surprising that Canada would do things similarly to the US, perhaps sans some of the over-the-top use of surplus military equipment and with fewer donuts. By all accounts, heavily armed security (and I'm sure it's not just sworn law enforcement officers, but also private security) in tourist areas are a bigger thing in Mexico than elsewhere in North America.

> except for the police walking around with assault weapons So you've never been to North America. Where is it you're comparing Paris to, such that it seems like every other big western city?

samatman 3y ago

I've been to most major American cities, and Toronto, and D.F., as well as Paris and Brussels. What Paris and Brussels have in common with D.F., which they do not share with either the major American cities or Toronto, is police open-carrying machine guns.

justin66 3y ago
I assume by "machine guns" you mean rifles, and by "open carrying" you mean "carrying." (there's no way to carry a rifle concealed) I have no idea what "D.F." is. Another response above mentioned that American cops generally keep the long gun in the car. Since today we've got National Guardsmen with rifles in the NY subways acting as police, this conversation all feels a little tone deaf, but it's fair enough to point out that French law enforcement do like their rifles. I noticed that the first time I used a French airport, though, not out in the street. I don't remember ever seeing police walking in Paris, although I admit that I was a pretty sheltered tourist there. (I bet there's a more nuanced conversation to be had here about the difference between police and gendarmerie and I just don't know enough about it, except I sort of wonder what the OP was doing that caused him to cross paths with heavily armed law enforcement outside of the airport or government buildings. Maybe Paris really has changed.)
- samatman 3y ago
  > I assume by "machine guns" you mean rifles I mean both fully-automatic rifles and submachine guns, but sure, I never saw someone lugging around an M2 like a 1980s action character. > and by "open carrying" you mean "carrying." I mainly meant to contrast it with having one easily accessible in their squad car, actually. American police do have long rifles, although these are mostly semiauto. Since there is no way to carry a rifle concealed, all carry is in fact open carry... or is it? Is a rifle in a case open carry? It is not. The term means something in the U.S., and I was using it correctly. In places where citizens have the right to open carry, this applies to a slung rifle as well, in places where they do not, it's legal to carry a rifle, but it must be in a case. > I have no idea what "D.F." is. Distrito Federal, Ciudad de México. Had you been a bit more curious, the answer is very easy to determine: https://www.google.com/search?q=D.F+city https://www.google.com/search?q=D.F+city This is no stranger than referring to New York City as NYC, it is an utterly commonplace term for the city, the one which Mexicans normally use in referring to it. > Since today we've got National Guardsmen with rifles in the NY subways acting as police, this conversation all feels a little tone deaf That may be the case, I've been to New York many times but not for many years now. If I had seen this, I would have mentioned it. I don't see what about this conversation is tone deaf, other than perhaps your refusal to read what I said with reasonable generosity, or look up a common term for the largest city in North America when you didn't recognize it. > I noticed that the first time I used a French airport, though, not out in the street. They do tend to cluster around airports and train stations in both Paris and Brussels, although not exclusively. In D.F. you'll see machine guns open carried pretty much anywhere, true throughout Mexico in fact.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- TeaBrain 3y ago
  DF is an abbreviation of Distrito Federal, a name for Mexico City. It was changed officially in 2016 to just Ciudad de Mexico/CDMX.
  - justin66 3y ago
    Thanks!

MeImCounting 3y ago

Having lived in america my whole life and been to many different major cities I can say that the police keep their long guns in the car generally.

justin66 3y ago
In the United States the AR or shotgun will generally be kept in the car. It's fairly common to see automatic weapons in Mexico, depending on where you are. (I don't remember how the Canadian police typically do things. I think I was dazzled by how attractive the police officers in Canada are compared to the United States, particularly in Montreal, but they definitely carry pistols and wear kevlar...)
- MeImCounting 3y ago
  I havent really spent much time in mexico but in my experience cops in canada also generally keep long guns in the car.
  - justin66 3y ago
    Thanks. It's not too surprising that Canada would do things similarly to the US, perhaps sans some of the over-the-top use of surplus military equipment and with fewer donuts. By all accounts, heavily armed security (and I'm sure it's not just sworn law enforcement officers, but also private security) in tourist areas are a bigger thing in Mexico than elsewhere in North America.