Posted on 08/22/2014 10:17:50 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Over the past two weeks, Americans have been transfixed and horrified by the surreal images of police donning camouflage and gas masks and pointing sniper rifles at unarmed demonstrators in Ferguson, Mo. Why have police departments become so enamored with tools more associated with war than with walking the beat? One answer is receiving precious little attention: America’s gun culture.
America is a nation awash in firearms. It’s simply impossible to talk incisively about what’s happening in Ferguson without talking about guns and the ease with which ordinary citizens and criminals can get access to them.
Police today are much better armed because it’s the only way they can keep up with criminals. When powerful semi-automatic and military-style weapons started to appear on the streets, police departments began moving from six-shot revolvers to semi-automatic weapons. That trend accelerated after several high-profile incidents where officers were simply outgunned by criminals, the most infamous being a 1997 shoot-out at a North Hollywood bank in which the robbers were toting automatic weapons and wearing body armor.
According to David Kennedy, director at the Center for Crime Prevention and Control at John Jay College, though these types of events are as rare as a “meteor strike” for most communities, police departments increasingly have come to believe that “they should have the technology ready in case one occurs.”(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at bostonglobe.com ...
And the reverse is true, as the police militarized many citizens did the same.
“transfixed and horrified”
Transmogrified, to be short, in Calvin & Hobbes speak.
This jerbalist sure has a case of the vapors.
We did...long ago...
Funny no mention of narco terrorists or 9/11.
I remember when SWAT was a TV show and not a jackboot unit enforcing bench warrants.
America’s gun culture.
should be America's GANG culture.
flip the script but do it quick
Nice try, Boston Glob.
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“That trend accelerated after several high-profile incidents where officers were simply outgunned by criminals, the most infamous being a 1997 shoot-out at a North Hollywood bank in which the robbers were toting automatic weapons and wearing body armor. “
Uhn, huh.
And how many incidents like that have occurred in the nearly 20 years hence?
BTW, the cops sucked at shooting, which is why they were outgunned.
Sure, they should have had an AR and a .30 + Caliber in the fight but, their tactics sucked, their aim sucked, etc.
Shoot any idiot in the head with a .308 or .338 and the fight is over.
Don’t matter if they have a helmet on. They will hit the ground hard and hear nothing but bells and then you can unload a mag in them, at will.
And don’t give me this B.S. about shooting under attack.
Those morons were pretty much out in the open and ripe for shootin dead.
The problem now is the pendulum has swung the other way with every Joe Jock acting out their Geardiot dreams on the simplest of crimes and many times they don’t do enough intel to determine if their actual target is in the building.
Witness blowing hole in the chest of a baby.
Wouldn’t have happened if the law wasn’t looking for “So and So?”.
Really? That’s your piss poor excuse for not ascertaining if your target was actually in the building, much less taking care to see your bomb was thrown in a safe manner that didn’t cause injury, yet gave you the element of surprise?
You Roid heads will use any excuse to justify your mediocre work and treating Americans as war hostiles.
You are starting to look like the enemy and sadly I once wanted to be one of you.
I do my best to give my props, as you truly do have a difficult job but, this ain’t Fallujah and you should exert force where appropriate, not just because you “Have officer safety” as your paramount priority.
The cops ended that ‘97 shootout with a bolt-action rifle and a shotgun, correct?
(Not that it would matter to a urinalist with an agenda/s;)
That isn’t the “US gun Culture”.
BS. Citizens have always had more and better guns than most police departments.
I is America’s gang culture, which is tied to the illegal drug industry, that is the problem. What makes matters worse is the level of lawlessness will get worse when the flood of illegals ramp up the turf wars.
The FBI has released new statistics on NICS background checks showing 2013 gun sales hit a new record. The total number of background checks conducted for gun sales last year add up to 21,093,273, beating the previous 2012 record of 19,592,303 by 1,500,970.
http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/01/07/2013-saw-record-gun-background-checks-n1772931
Excellent Post!!
Beyond what you have said, take a good look at retired LEOs. They have such a twisted view of life and people that they are almost like a dog trained for war. They don’t have many friends who are not other LEOs for the most part and they still view anyone who is not a cop or a retired cop with abject suspicion. We tried to have a continuing social relationship with a friend of my wife’s when she married a retired local senior LE “official.” It turned out to be a bridge too far!
Having the arms is one thing, and a case can be made for that. But it is the indiscriminate use of them, like for serving warrants on grandma, that is the issue. It should be RARE, not ROUTINE.
*** When powerful semi-automatic and military-style weapons started to appear on the streets,***
Bunkum. Civilians have always been better armed than the army up until 1956.
Back in 1902 outlaw Harry Tracy stacked up dead lawmen like cord wood with nothing but a 30-30 Winchester Rifle. Yet no lawman complained about being “outgunned” by him.
“and the ease with which ordinary citizens ... can get access to them.”
And so why exactly are the police to having to “arm up” to keep up with ordinary citizens, anyway?
BTW, I just LOVE those newspapers like the Globe that require logging in with a paid subscription in order to comment. You ever notice how almost NO ONE ever makes comments in those papers? Ya think maybe it’s because almost NO ONE finds them worth paying for in the first place?
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