Dear Syriusly:
I personally know a man who could have been dead, and his family also,
had he waited for police to arrive. He was confronted by a man, about twice
his size, who broke through his front door swinging a baseball bat and was threatening
the homeowner on the stairs between them and the man's wife and infant upstairs.
He ordered the intruder to stop or he'd have to shoot, and even had 9/11 on the phone
at the time. But the attacker wouldn't stop but was going after him with the bat,
like he was high on PCP or some other drugs. So the homeowner shot him dead,
while waiting for help to arrive.
Are you going to tell this homeowner he can't have a gun but
has to wait on police?
Are you saying that only the ELITE who can afford private security in their neighborhoods
deserve protection, while middle class and average homeowners don't deserve
"equal protection of the laws."
On a larger scale:
What about the LA riots and the chaos in New Orleans after Katrina?
The police in LA decided NOT to answer calls for help, and just let
the fires burn and riots run. (as for assault weapons, one pawn shop
that didn't get attacked by rioters was protected only because the
owners had assault weapons, shots were fired into the air and patrols
were visibly on guard until police and guards arrived the next day.)
When Assault Weapons Saved Koreatown
Syriusly this is an EXTREME example
But what all police will tell you is that the solution is to have the
community involved in policing. The more the citizens participate,
we don't put as much BURDEN on our police, where any terrorist
cells could plan attack "multiple spots across a city" and stretch the
police too thin.
The same problem exists with our public schools: where the solution
is for parents to be involved and take responsibility for their own
children and NOT DUMPING THE BURDEN on teachers to raise them.
We need an active informed and involved citizenry to detect and deter
crime, not just rely on police, if we are going to have proportional
law enforcement to meet demands of our growing populations.
