“ONLY TRAINED LAW-ENFORCEMENT PROFESSIONALS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CARRY GUNS”
So proclaims Glenn Reynolds sarcastically, as he links the latest news item about some incredibly inept gun handling by Milwaukee police:
According to a criminal complaint released Thursday, Edwards was in line at Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop when he reached into his back pocket for his wallet. As he did, his gun slid out of his waistband and down his pants. As he reached for the weapon, it went off, blowing a hole through his pants. The gun was not in a holster and did not have a safety, the complaint says.
A woman standing nearby heard a loud bang and felt a stinging sensation on her leg, where she suffered a welt, the complaint says.
According to earlier reports, the bullet hit the marble floor and disintegrated. It was not clear from the complaint whether the bullet ricocheted off the floor and hit the woman’s leg, or whether she was hit by a piece of shrapnel. Chief Deputy District Attorney Kent Lovern did not respond to messages seeking clarification Thursday.
Unfortunately, some cops clearly believe that they alone have a sacrosanct right to carry and use firearms any way they wish — a right they don’t think the rest of us share. Glenn linked an earlier, utterly outrageous remark by Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn:
“My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we’ll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have a right to carry it,” Flynn said.
Police in San Francisco “think” pretty much the same way. They recently tackled and manhandled an actor who was using a toy plastic gun as a prop while a movie was being shot, on private property, with all the necessary permits.
“It’s a movie!” the actor protested.
Too bad. The cops said the actor was lucky they didn’t simply shoot him. That, claim San Francisco’s finest, is their usual practice.
“We were shooting about a stupid crime – a little segment people can laugh about,” said Yasmine Yoshida, filming coordinator with Duo Creative Communications, the film company. “It’s supposed to be funny, but all of a sudden it wasn’t funny at all.”
Unfortunately, Yoshida said, the cameras were no longer rolling when the real guns arrived.
“They were just so scared,” she said.
Police told her that the actor, David Lubin, was lucky he hadn’t been killed.
“They said when they see someone running around with a gun, they usually just shoot,” she said. “They don’t ask any questions.”
Hey wait a minute! Just as I was going to accuse them of fascist Gestapo tactics, it suddenly occurred to me that San Francisco and Milwaukee are liberal cities.
So what’s up?
Has liberalism gone fascist Gestapo?
Or are fascist Gestapo tactics the new liberalism?
Comments
4 responses to “Shoot first!”
“Has liberalism gone fascist Gestapo?
Or are fascist Gestapo tactics the new liberalism?”
Ummm, “Yes?”
Has liberalism gone fascist Gestapo?
Or are fascist Gestapo tactics the new liberalism?
Damn it, Eric! I’m sick and tired of your trick questions!
I’m sorry but I see this as possibly a more complicated situation. If this location is a store normally open to the public, in full view, and somehow the police rollcall didn’t tell the officers (or didn’t know) that it was going to be used for filming that day, then it puts the police in an untenable position. I sure as hell would have called 911 if I had seen what looked like an armed robbery at the local store…was the street blocked off with obvious film-making notices and equipment, or did everything look completely normal? Without knowing more, I can’t condemn or condone the police action.
Wait, I don’t get it. It’s bad for cops to shoot a criminal actually engaged in crime in NYC, but in SF it’s ok to shoot first and ask questions later?
Liberalism’s hard.