[LibertarianCandidate]

This was a small town. These small town cops receive training about gun battles, terrorists, etc. They almost never get a chance to pull out their gun and fire it. So when their chance finally does arrive, they tend to be trigger happy. Remember Barney Fife. Sheriff Andy new about this tendancy and made him carry his bullet in his shirt pocket. Probably a pretty wise practice.

[RightWhale]

BS, Barney

[VRWCTexan]

So now we use a comedic 1950's TV cop "Barney Fife" to boaster a weak argument for trigger-happy cops...??

All you have to do is take a look at the "fake" gun, modified to look "real" and realize that it was being used to hold a hostage... (wake up and smell the coffee)

[ARealMothersSonForever]

Sheriff Andy new about this tendancy and made him carry his bullet in his shirt pocket. Probably a pretty wise practice.

Welcome, TV N00B. NB4ZOT You have never been shot, nor shot at.

[Michael.SF.]

they tend to be trigger happy. Remember Barney Fife. Sheriff Andy new about this tendancy

ROFLMAO

Your using Barney Fife to bolster your argument? You cannot be series.

[JCEccles]

These small town cops receive training about gun battles, terrorists, etc. They almost never get a chance to pull out their gun and fire it. So when their chance finally does arrive, they tend to be trigger happy ... Remember Barney Fife.

Yes, I remember Barney Fife. He was a sitcom character played by actor Don Knotts.

[Chanticleer]

Not so. Longwood isn't really a small town, and the county Sheriffs were involved. These guys are no way trigger happy Barney Fifes. Seminole County and Orange County make up the majority of the metropolitan Orlando area. It's like one big city for miles and miles. With a major international airport nearby and being a major international tourist destination, these guys get a lot of training. This is no Mayberry.

I think more information needs to come out, but the child brought a realistic-looking gun to school, pointed it at a student and eventually at a deputy. Deputies pleaded with him to drop it, but he refused. Whether or not he owned a real gun isn't that relevant.

Furthermore, that deputy didn't wake up that morning and say, "Hey, I think I'd like to gun down a boy today." He got up in the morning ready to risk his life for the safety of his community. That poor man has to live with this for the rest of his life, his own self doubt as well as the accusations of total strangers.

If fingers must be pointed, try the school administration, who knew the boy was troubled when he threatened to blow up the bus the prior year. Point them at the friends and neighbors who knew he had long been bullied and suicidal. Point them at the parents, who did not recognize their son's problems or get adequate help. Point them at the young man himself, who although troubled, knew what he was doing. The deputy should never have been put in the position to have to make that terrible decision. The time to prevent this tragedy was long before he brought a gun to school.

[Irene Adler]

"This was a small town. These small town cops receive training about gun battles, terrorists, etc. They almost never get a chance to pull out their gun and fire it. So when their chance finally does arrive, they tend to be trigger happy."

How does necessarily being trigger happy follow from your perceptions of small town police? I have to assume that small town police are more or less like other people. That is, they vary all over the map.

" Remember Barney Fife. Sheriff Andy new about this tendancy and made him carry his bullet in his shirt pocket. Probably a pretty wise practice."

Barney Fife was a fictional character created for a humorous television program. What does that prove?

[brytlea]

Sheriff Andy was a small town cop too....
susie

[Wicket]

Oh please.

The kid was apparently holding another kid hostage. He had painted the gun to look like a real one. He pointed it at the deputy.

Clearly a pretty screwed up kid. Suicide by cop, if there ever was one. Sad, but not the cops' fault.