Senate Gun Control

No, mate. No.

It's what Freedom looks like.

 

I'm getting a bit misty eyed.

 

Liberty gives me the horn.

 

I'm off to Washington DC in September so hopefully I will not be served with a lethal dose of Freedom whilst I am there. If I avoid cops altogether then Freedom may elude me. I'm waiting for notification of a Freedom levy on my life and travel insurances as a visitor to the Land of Freedom.

 

The Freedom to be shot is inalienable.

 

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-poli...neapolis-police-shooting-justine-damond-video

"
American police use force more often than police in other developed countries

Police officers in the US shoot and kill nearly 1,000 people a year, according to the Washington Post’s database — far more than other developed countries like the UK, Australia, Japan, and Germany, where police officers might go an entire year without killing more than a dozen people or even anyone at all.
For example, an analysis by the Guardian found that “US police kill more in days than other countries do in years.” Between 1992 and 2011, Australian police shot and killed 94 people. In 2015, US police shot and killed 97 people just in March. These differences are not explained by population, since the US is about 14 times as populous as Australia but, based on the Guardian’s count, has hundreds of times the fatal police shootings.
One explanation for this disparity is that violent crime is much more common in the US, putting police in more situations in which the use of force is necessary. As data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows, the US homicide rate throughout the 2000s was nearly four times the rate of Canada, more than four times that of the UK, nearly six times that of Australia, and more than 10 times that of Germany.
But why does the US have a much higher violent crime rate than other countries? One explanation: Americans are much more likely to own guns than their peers around the world. This means that conflicts — not just between police and civilians but between civilians — are more likely to escalate into deadly, violent encounters."

 

Don't be surprised if people resort to violence, when you have a culture that celebrates and encourages violence.

 

Not really. Fifth Amendment rights are vital, if frustrating. One has a right to silence.

I believe Australia has a similar law, and I assume it extends to police officers as well.

 

I don't know if we do or not, but I'd find it equally troubling either way. He was acting not as a private citizen but as an officer of the law. At that point you should be held to different standards, including (IMHO) being compelled to cooperate with investigators by providing a statement, even if with legal counsel present. If you aren't willing to do that much, instant termination should follow.

EDIT: And here's the answer, from only four years ago:

So, you're right, sort of: New South Wales has a common law ruling, as of 2013, that police officers have a right to silence during an investigation of conduct while on duty. As I said, I believe any officer exercising that right during such an investigation should face immediate termination.

 

There's a ton of paperwork every time a police officer uses their firearm in the line of duty here, too. Duh. Of course there are standard procedures in place.

Btw, apparently in some places refusal to cooperate with investigation can result in termination. Depends on the area.

Since this just happened, he may be compelled to cooperate over the next few days. He may be fired. Idk.

 

True, but this refusal to provide a statement AND to use a body cam should at, bare minimum, be cause for immediate termination from the police force. If the officer was justified, you would think he would want the cam on AND provide a statement.

The fifth amendment only protects his due process rights, not blanket immunity from other non-judicial consequences.

 

Powerful police unions.

 

However, we can take some solace. Despite the fact the US is a barely functioning state whose impending collapse could frankly happen a lot sooner, there may finally be justice in a police shooting of a completely innocent civilian (because instead of terrifying every citizen everywhere, due to the severe implications of agents of the state executing with near impunity, more than one person each time defends the shootings). Unlike every other case, you see, the shooter was dark skinned and the victim white - not the other way around. America, which likes to fellate itself on its myths of liberty, democracy, justice, and rule of law, will not let this wicked transgression go unpunished. The officer will have to be charged.

 

Warning, rant ahead.

Ok, I understand guns, enough to know how to handle them safely. I've been around them since I was a kid: friends and family have them for hunting, trap shooting, as heirlooms, and I've fired them enough to know I'm a decent shot. So I'm cool with the fact that they exist--for some purposes. I've also lived and worked in some of the most gang- and crime-ridden parts of the state, and never felt I needed a weapon to protect myself. I always said I might get a gun for hunting, but lately I've made up my mind not to. I would still like to take up hunting, but it'll have to be with a bow. The risks of having a firearm in the house are just too great, especially for people with mental illness.

Now, what is making me feel unsafe is the fact that law enforcement keep killing people. Yet nowhere am I seeing discussion about disarming the police. If we're talking about American gun culture, this is the most visible example of its ridiculousness. If I get pulled over for a traffic violation, or if I call the cops to report a crime, I don't want them to even have a gun on them. De-escalation, self-defense training, and non-lethal weapons are plenty effective for the 99.99% of the time they don't have to use their weapon. In a recent survey, only 27% of officers said they had ever fired their weapon, during their entire career. So why are all of our cops armed, sometimes heavily? Seriously. My job is statistically more dangerous than law enforcement, but it would be seen as insane (if not illegal) for me to carry a gun on the job.

But maybe I'm missing something, because an officer kills someone who called 911, refuses to even submit a report (you know, do his job requirements), and still can't even be fired from the department. He's still on paid administrative leave, while the chief of police has resigned without doing jack ****. I doubt they'll be big enough to admit they shouldn't carry guns anytime soon.

 

Guns are profitable. And even though she was white, Justine Damond was a dirty foreigner so she might as well be brown in terms of her rights and status in American society.

 

Is the officer going to jail?

 

Wal-Mart apologizes and removes Back to School gun ad/display that said 'Own the School Year like a Hero."

 

Glorification of firearms and, yet, American politicians are at lost to explain rising violent crime rate.

 

This make me think of an old song (I hope it is not considered to tasteless)