I know what you mean. I have a BB-gun that's a dead ringer for the Heckler and Koch UMP that I use for shooting varmints in the yard. No way I would hold this while approaching or being approached by the police.
Posted on 01/20/2016 10:18:56 AM PST by rktman
Eric Provost's father called Orlando police on Monday night, concerned for his son's well-being.
But when officers responded to the Courtney Landing condo complex to check on the 28-year-old man, it was Provost who was the perceived threat, Orlando police Chief John Mina said.
Provost walked out of one of the units armed with an airsoft gun that appeared to be a real firearm, Mina said.
Officers Tino Cruz and Sonja Saunders fired their weapons after Provost kept ignoring their orders to drop the gun, according to police.
Provost was struck by the officers' gunfire and later pronounced dead at Florida Hospital East.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
The lesson here is don’t call the police for help with a family member unless you want that person to die. Call your friends or family but don’t call the police.
You are going to taze a man with a gun?
That’s kinda how I feel about it. I’ve only called the police once (during a VERY bitter divorce). The rest I handle myself. I have my own guns and a lot more latitude in their use. I don’t need the police.
The lesson here is not to wave any weapon around a police officer. Officers do not have to guess whether the weapon is real. Waving a weapon at the police, especially a gun like or knife one like is to put your LIFE ON THE LINE.
Why would anyone open carry a replica BB gun? Utter stupidity, especially if the orange identifying tag was removed.
Geez, couldn’t they have tazed him?
______________________________________
Tazed him?
Why not pick up a rock and throw it at him?
Look. When you are faced with some nut with a gun - your only (and best) option is to shoot said nut before he shoots you.
Cops acted correctly here.
If I call the police to my home, the police arrive and loudly announce their presence, I don’t greet them with a gun in my hand waving it around.
The good news is this guy was white, so we won’t have the massive disruptions when they (justifiably) shoot a black man in the same situation. There were all sorts of options to avoid this situation, as there usually are, but when the guy refused to drop what looked like a real gun, the cops had no choice (other than to take the blame if the apparently crazy guy with the gun shot someone else).
One of my younger neighbors has set up a little firing range. He and his BILs have bb/pellet pistols that look like real pistols even at closer than 10'.
Suicide by Cop is a lottery game played by some really sad people. They get a cop to shoot them when they have a bb pistol or a real knife and threaten the cop and others.
When the cops take out the Suicide by Cop, the loser families picks out the best left wing attorney to win the lawsuit lottery for them.
Can’t understand why the man didn’t drop the gun? Did he feel he was under some sort of imminent threat? If so, did he believe airsoft BB’s or even .177 pellets were going to protect him??
Agree on the realism of these - the BB guns we have in our family look very much like a typical 9mm or .45. My son’s Red Ryder could easily be considered a .22 from a distance.
Megan,
Perhaps you should rethink your statement. The lesson is not that police will kill you. The lesson is that when police are around, don’t confront them with a gun, toy or not. Stupid hurts.
stress, family disturbance call, low light and stupidity all combine. At 20 ft., you can’t tell a toy from real.
There have been a few agitators who have accepted invitations from police departments to practice in high stress shooting environments. Every one I’ve heard, they pulled the trigger and walked out with a different attitude.
Shooting the legs, arms, etc. is unrealistic. I’ve done just a bit of high stress target training and am lucky to hit the target, let alone a specific area.
I know what you mean. I have a BB-gun that's a dead ringer for the Heckler and Koch UMP that I use for shooting varmints in the yard. No way I would hold this while approaching or being approached by the police.
SEVERAL RULES I’VE IMPARTED TO MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY:
There is NO situation that cannot be made WORSE by the presence of the police.
If you EVER find yourself in a bar frequented by cops, LEAVE:
They are always armed, they are probably drunk and they are ALWAYS RIGHT!
Nature taking is course.
The guys father was concerned about the guy. That concern may have been based on a MENTAL CONDITION, said condition which may have caused the guy to fail to properly understand the cops’ order to him.
If that was the case, the father was, himself, to involve the cops. Why hell didn’t the old man go see to his son HIMSELF???
Looks like the old man’s “problem” with his son ended with the son’s life!
Stupid is as stupid does or whatever.
One with toy gun most times will see no reason to drop it — its only a toy. I can’t hurt anyone so cop has no reason to shoot me.
Darwin lives.
Roger that. The taze comment should have had an /s behind it. Of course if they were close enough and had a 12 gage with a bean bag round, that would have made a mark too. But, if you ain’t part of the situation, you really can’t make much of a judgement. But we do.
Sorry, but in the past year a number of mentally ill people have been shot and killed by police after well-meaning family members called police for help.
In 2014 mentally ill people were shot to death by police for:
Lying face down in a park and threatening no one at all.
Opening a door with a baseball bat in hand.
Holding a cordless drill.
Holding a hammer.
And several more were unarmed at the time they were killed.
http://reason.com/blog/2014/08/20/mentally-ill-killed-by-cops
Law enforcement are too often not emotionally capable of dealing with mentally ill people who are themselves not capable of the kind of instant submission that police demand of the public these days.
Just look around these topics on FR and you’ll see a number of posters supporting police who kill people simply because they’re accused (post mortem) of being uncooperative.
Imagine that, failing to instantly submit to law enforcement is a death penalty offense according to some people. And then they have the utter gall to propose resistance to the President. Obviously, they deserve to die for their failure to submit to authority.
Your post affirms what I said: Don’t call the police unless you want someone killed.
My words are just an extension of basic firearms safety:
1. Don’t pull out a gun unless you’re prepared to use it.
2. Don’t use it unless you’re prepared to kill someone.
Ergo:
1. Don’t call the police unless you’re prepared for them to use force.
2. Don’t call the police unless you’re prepared for them to kill someone on your behalf.
3. Don’t call the police and expect them not to use lethal force, it doesn’t work that way.
Agreed?
Actually waving a weapon at ANYBODY (not just cops) can out your life on the line...CCW?
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