disarm the police to prevent violence

[justjoe]

Omar J. Edwards News - The New York Times

this article tells the story of an nyc cop who saw someone running down the street with a gun, jumped to his own conclusion about what he was witnessing and then shot and killed the man. the only problem is that the man he shot and killed was an off duty cop who was pursuing a burglar.

i've heard the argument made that only the police and the military ought to be allowed to carry guns because only the police and the military possess the training and the maturity and the superior decision making skills that are needed to carry guns safely and responsibly. i've heard the argument that if you were to allow average citizens to carry guns that there would be wild west shootouts on every main street in america and there would be many erroneous shootings because of mistaken identity.

i've always argued that it's not true; that police themselves are just regular people with specialized training in firearms handling that lasts about a week or two, and that as long as citizens were willing to be as well trained as the police they should have the same rights as the police to carry guns if they so choose. well, in light of this story and others like it that detail instances of police making poor decisions about the use of lethal force, i'm willing to concede that it's just too dangerous to let ANYONE carry guns, and so i'll admit that everyone needs to be disarmed, starting with the worst offenders, the police.

[throttle]

Let everyone legally carry arms that is not a convicted criminal.
That will solve it... LOL

[BadOrderKing]

Officer Edwards, according to the account, turned to face his unwitting colleagues, his gun pointed their way.

AAAHHH!, So it was his lack of common sense that got him killed. the way the first part of the story read, I thought it was a racial thing. But then, I guess it sells papers to start a headline, "White cop kills black...."

Sad story, but he knew better than to do that. He should have stopped, NOT facing the cops and shouted that he was apolice officer and was chasing burglary suspects. Part of police training is the same as the RR. ALWAYS be aware of suroundings and the situation.

[throttle]

There is always more to the story then you ever really hear.