Well you don't need anything more powerful than pistols, rifles and shotguns to protect themselves from animals, but that's not who most people are worried about needing protection from. All of human history, written and unwritten, has been an arms race and I doubt that ever changes.
After this debacle, they've got to fire the entire local PD and bring in completely new ones. This is a disgrace.
Won't do any good. This is a national problem that started after the freak north hollywood shooting gave cops carte blanche to turn into the national guard. This has been amplified in recent years because of the takeoffs they have been getting from the US Military pulling out of Iraq. The media has reported this as either pro police (ie the police need these weapons because of crazy gun owners) or anti police (ie these racist or brutal jerks) but never reported the institutional problem of giving ill trained yokels machine guns, APCs and NOD/NVD. Hopefully this will change soon and the demilitarization of police will begin.
This is the kind of stuff that makes Rand Paul such an intriguing candidate to expand the appeal of the GOP from the base: http://time.com/3111474/rand-paul-ferguson-police/
I would add, however, that one of the reasons the police get militarized is that citizens/criminals are armed better. It's a spiral effect.
The government in this country is made up of the people. Finding 18 year old kids willing to fire on the citizens of the US will be hard to do. You will be more likely to find 18 year old kids in the military that are willing to turn those weapons back on the government if it were to come to that point. Those powerful armies and police forces are made up of US citizens that are likely just as fed up with our government as you and I. Do you think the average soldier or cop is a gun rights supporter or not? Do you think they believe the 2nd amendment has anything to do with personal protection or hunting?
It isn't true though. New machine gun ownership was effectively banned in 1986. The reason police are getting militarized is because the public is allowing it. There is no need for it at all. We have the national guard who are vastly better trained.
The aftermath of Katrina tells you all you need to know. Local police forces are yokels who will instantly turn occupying force. They are ill trained and unable to deal with civil unrest. To even suggest they would think for themselves is silly.
Unless they kill THEMSELVES . . .these guys usually get a cool ride to the police station and not killed dead on the streets. . . . . I mean seriously .. . you shoot up a theater full of people and the cops coddle you into a car . . . if you are white but if you are black . . . death sentence for 'selling cigarettes'/'suspicion *not PROOF BUT SUSPICION* of theft/etc Rocket River
Bull**** weapon of mass distraction 84% of crimes against white people is done by white people it is the reality of any group Crime happens mostly within your on area/group Rocket Rover
until we see the undoctored video why should we believe what the cops say at this point they no longer get the benefit of the doubt They will throw out the 'we feared for our life' as a weak justification of everything now Rocket River
http://www.theamericanconservative.com/seven-reasons-police-brutality-is-systematic-not-anecdotal/ Rocket River
I'm talking about killings/shootings - not crime in general. OK...I guess it's just my town that has this problem...Never mind...go back to everything is ok in my race...but I can tell you, ignoring the problem with statistics is not working in my neck of the woods. I feel sorry for that "side".
This is really one of those things that's out of sight out of mind for the most part. Nobody really cares about what happens in poor neighborhoods until they see something like this splashed over the news. As soon as this dies down it will just go back to business as usual and in six months we'll cycle through this again. Sucks to say that but it's true.
Gun sales - in particular rifles and the like - skyrocketed since Obama was elected. That means the populace is more armed, which means police also want to be. Look at the Clive Bundy crap and all the weapons that were pointed at Feds. Police will naturally want a way to respond to those kinds of threats. And then the Clive Bundys of the world will want a way to respond to the more armed police and on and on we go.
at a point . . . . maybe those guys with Clive were right I meam they WERE POINTING GUNS AT COPS .. . and none of them were killed Maybe if these protesters were as well armed . .. do you think they would have the same result??? . . naaa. . me either Rocket River
Glosses over the fact that Congress has been authorizing the supply of military equipment to local police forces since 1990. This is a problem that was created right under our noses over the past two decades.
That's a crock of shiite. The police are more heavily armed because after 9/11 the federal government began throwing grant money at departments in order to arm them up to combat terrorism. They are not getting this money to combat me and my AR15, they are getting this money to combat "terrorism" (I know, to some of you there is no distinction ). The threat of Mumbai-style attacks is real. In addition, many LEOs spend their own money on this stuff as well. Those War-Ready Cops in Ferguson Are 9/11's Awful Legacy—and Your Taxes Are Paying for It First came the police officer’s fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager on the way back from the convenience store with a friend. Then came the protests and looting. Then came the astonishing police response, which by Wednesday night transformed the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, an inner suburb of St. Louis, into a scene out of Cairo, Kiev, or Tehran. Which has led appalled onlookers to ask: Who has been outfitting local police departments to look like battle-hardened military units? You have. Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the American taxpayer has been providing the funding for an eye-popping influx of money from the Department of Homeland Security to state and local law enforcement agencies. The funding is all in the name of preventing “terrorism,” but funds are fungible, and so are heavily-armored vehicles and high-powered weaponry. As the Missouri Department of Homeland Security explains on its own website advertising one of the federal DHS grants it distributes to local agencies: “Activities implemented under [the State Homeland Security Program] must support terrorism preparedness by building or enhancing capabilities that relate to the prevention of, protection from, or response to, and recovery from terrorism in order to be considered eligible. However, many capabilities which support terrorism preparedness simultaneously support preparedness for other hazards.” [Emphasis mine.] Full Story: http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119081/militarized-police-response-michael-brown-protests-911-legacy You guys will use *ANY* excuse for gun control. SMH.
