Replies

>> Do you REALLY think these cops would notice if I started to lower my gun? <<

Well, if you actually DO lower it, yeah, I think cops would notice the difference between a gun pointed at them, and one not pointed at them. Also, shouting, “Don’t shoot; I’m putting down my gun” probably helps, further. And I also have no difficulty believing that someone on the team mistakenly believed that the vic shot first; once the first bullet flew, he started shooting.

>> In the Costco shooting last July, the cop who opened fire said the man pointed his gun at him - but the gun was found holstered <<

So because one cop is guilty, all cops are guilty?

“So because one cop is guilty, all cops are guilty?”

No. But it shows what I was taught in the USAF safety school about investigating accidents - people see what they expect to see. A large minority of people who see a jet crash will report it was on fire, even if nothing burned. They are not lying. Their brain expects to see a crashing plane on fire and fills in the details for them.

Cops expecting armed resistance or told they are entering the home of a really bad dude who see a guy with a gun will see a guy with a gun pointed at them. It is what they expect to see.

I normally carry a gun around the house investigating at about a 45 deg down position. Habit, I guess, from where I hold it at the range prior to taking a shot. Will a cop who sees that see me RAISING my gun, or LOWERING it?

Now, do I have a right to grab a gun and investigate something unusual at my house? Yes. If I call the cops, they aren’t likely to show up in less than 10 minutes. It took the fire department longer than that to respond to a house in full blaze. And if I lived in the neighborhood this guy lived, I wouldn’t THINK of investigating anything without a gun in hand.

So we now have a situation where the cops are serving a warrant in a manner that a law-abiding person (me) would likely be shot. That means either they KNOW in advance that the guy has been sentenced to death (impossible) or that they are serving the warrant in a manner that should be banned.

And THAT is my point. There are other ways of serving warrants, and skipping them and going to a SWAT team raid sets one up for killing an innocent civilian. Sooner or later, one can reasonably expect an innocent person to be killed when warrants are served this way, and for what? Over a crime that, if found guilty, there is no death penalty? That is obscene.

This is America. Presumed innocent, not presumed guilty. And yes, we are allowed to own guns.