[NYFriend]

It's funny, I was thinking about this today when I read an NY Times piece about a shoot out in Brooklyn, and Mayor Bloomberg saying he and the NYC Police Commissioner were tired of having to visit cops wounded by illegal handguns. (The context was such that he clearly meant he didn't like cops getting shot, not that hospital visits ate into his free time.)

Plenty of police officers support the rights of citizens to own and carry guns, plenty others do not. It seems more Police Chiefs and Commissioners support gun control than not, and many of us attribute that to them being more politician than cop.

Politicians like to roll out cops supporting gun control as proof that gun control is needed.

Taking all this together, I've reached a few preliminary theories. First, your average cop on the beat isn't a public policy expert or historian. Police are cited as authorities because the public is sympathetic towards them, and they have some (although not always a lot) of personal expereince about how crimes occur, or who commits crimes. (So we are clear, a Highway Patrol officer isn't an authority to protecting your business against a burglary, buy a detective assigned to a commercial burglary unit in a big city probably is; even a homicide detective probably can't give you much advice on avoiding being murdered other than, "don't buy or deal drugs, mind your own business on the street, and don't associate with criminals").

OK, so I got to thinking that cops encounter two kinds of gun, theirs (including those of other cops) and guns intended to commit crimes. They aren't afraid of their guns (although accidents do happen). But, they know criminal fight back against the police, and some criminals will kill cops. Basically, it's in the average police officers own interest for their to be no guns anywhere, because it increases their chance of going home safe. That's fine. I understand it. That line of thinking doesn't touch on whether joe citizen goes home safe, or sleeps through the night safe.

If it's true that police are more often seeing the world as "police and civilians" (us and them) then you're likely to see more police officers wanting guns out of the hands of all civilians.

[radar101]

So we are clear, a Highway Patrol officer isn't an authority to protecting your business against a burglary, buy a detective assigned to a commercial burglary unit in a big city probably is; even a homicide detective probably can't give you much advice on avoiding being murdered other than, "don't buy or deal drugs, mind your own business on the street, and don't associate with criminals".

CHP ARRESTS Total Arrests by CHP 2,488,839

CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL 2006 FACT SHEET

FELONY ARRESTS 12,865 Felony and Misdemeanor Arrests 2,279,000

22 CHP OFFICERS INJURED FROM ASSAULTS

/CHP OFFICERS KILLED

5,920 Killed in the Line of Duty (1929- 8/2006)

In 1971, I worked in the County area of South Central Los Angeles. Almost everyone HAD A GUN. Why? To protect themselves. Did we ( Law Enforcement) know this? Hell, yes! Did we arrest them and confiscate those guns? Hell, NO!

You see, unlike the Perfumed Princes who operate out of Ivory Towers, Law Enforcement Officers on the street have a sense of who we are dealing with. 99% of the time, the crook goes for another crime, and a weapon is found after the arrest, and added to the chargers.