Blame the NRA. The proliferation of handguns and the militarization of the police are a positive feedback loop.
I should disclose that I own a number of firearms, many of them sidearms, and don't like the NRA very much, nor have I ever donated to them or been a member. I'm just curious as to how you see them as being the source to blame.
I am a fan of responsible firearm ownership, but not the NRA - by the way. I don't know if I'd blame them, but I'd agree that they contribute to the 'gun culture' that ends up with irresponsible people wanting to own firearms.
Hint: practically zero.
Making a correlation between concealed carry and shootings is beyond ridiculous — there is zero data supporting such conclusions.
In most other countries the police officer can encounter a citizen without drawn gun because the odds of the citizen wielding a gun or worse are miniscule.
In America even the drawn handgun might not be superior armament.
The NRA didn't cause any of that, although they do make hay of it for their own political and financial ends.
Some of us parse the rationale such that it seems obsolete: we no longer rely on a militia to defend the nation, we have a professional military for it.
> A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State
Some of us, obviously, don't.
And now we're still arguing about the meaning of that damned comma...
The 2nd amendment then keeps the government from having a great justification for countless "protective" measures. Don't help me when I can help myself.
Can you give any examples of such measures, or evidence that the threat of violent revolution implied in the Second Amendment, versus the political power of the gun lobby and American gun culture, has ever been effective at limiting the US government or its rationale?
You can go to a wealthy white neighborhood in a hard-right place like Texas and there will be plenty of guns. But the cops won’t feel the need to dress up like soldiers and kill people for minor offenses.
Enforcing the kind of economic system where the poor have few ways to carve out a better life for themselves necessitates violence. Wage stagnation and an ever-increasing criminalization of poverty pushes more and more people into contact with the police. And austerity politics ensures that there is nothing to respond to any form of crisis with except the police.
The video of the cop executing an innocent civillian[1] and getting away with it kind of disproves this statement.
I agree that inequality and poverty are the issues, and I agree that there is a correlation between certain races and poverty, but I don't believe that the issue is just racism.
In this case, while not a traffic stop, the attempted arrest protocol was just stupid and it resulted in his death. That whole department needs to be reformed by the FBI. I hope his widow wins a huge settlement.
The argument that someone was reaching for a weapon or afraid for safety needs a higher burden of proof.
I‘d argue that they would if asked whether they should fear heart attacks more or less than guns on the street, but if you don‘t frame it that way they will probably tell you that of course guns are a real danger.
If my loved one was a police officer, I'd want them taking every precaution they could - so they get to come home tonight.