Here is another reason to ban handguns from cops on the beat.
See if we use the least iota of logic we would comprehend why we need to ban cops from carrying guns. It goes like this; cops carry guns, bad guys carry guns, cops get bigger guns, bad guys get bigger guns, cops get SWAT teams, bad guys get assault weapons (see Assault on Precinct 13, the original not the remake). Cops shoot to kill, 12 year old dies carrying toy pistol.
My former NDP MLA Gordon Wright (RIP) was a damned fine defense lawyer in the Rumpole school of law, he always refered to Rumpole's the Golden Thread.
The presumption of Inn-o-cence is the golden thread which runs through the history of the law. A man is innocent until he is proved guilty. Better that ten guilty men should go free than one who is not guilty should be convicted. For to convict the innocent is to spit in the face of justice.
( John Mortimer)
Well Gordon had an answer for gun control enthusiasts that was wry and particularly Albertan, if not downright libertarian for a New Democrat; when asked about gun control he would say first you have to disarm the cops. Very Rumpoleian of him. He used the British Bobbie as his example, and argued that gun crimes in England got worse once Boobies were armed.
Now I can already hear the screaming and gnashing of teeth out there in the blogosphere from the liberals and conservative law and order types.
But ask your self why is it so hard for the Reform/Alliance/Conservatives to call for a gun ban?
They at least understand this irrefutible logic, if you ban handguns you have to go all the way and disarm the Constable On Patrol. That way you would have effective non violent community policing. Besides last time I checked the Constable On Patrol was now armed to the teeth, with a good heavy billy club, tasers, pepper spray and a shotgun in the trunk of the car if not mounted to the dashboard. So why do they need to carry handguns?
You see the police live in a culture of paranoia and you know what they say about the paranoid; just cause they are paparnoid doen'st mean someone isn't out to get them. As a military arm of the state they live in the ultimate Zarathustrian dualistic universe. There are simply good guys and bad guys. Us civilians as they call us must be protected by the good guys from the bad guys, unless we turn into bad guys ourselves. We really can never be trusted is the police logic. And you want to give these socially sanctioned authoritarians with a paranoid complex guns? I think not.
When I was younger the COP on the beat on Whyte Avenue never carried a gun, he would patrol the street and check the doors of businesses to make sure they are secure. Today cops drive around, armed to the teeth looking for trouble.
Lets return to community policing, put more cops on the beat, get them to know their neighbourhood, have them work on a regular basis out of community league centres and community centres not cop shops. And have them walk around without handguns. This would reduce tensions and create a positive anti-gun culture.
If you aren't willing to disarm the cops you ain't serious about banning handguns
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