quote:Originally posted by Sarum:quote:Originally posted by Claudia:
Can you see the contradiction in saying the police should be allowed to shoot people for boarding a train or carrying a table leg for repair while we should not be allowed to defend ourselves from trigger happy policemen?
Actually, I don't see that as a contradiction.
The Police are charged with a duty to defend the public; if someone is perceived as a threat to the public, it is their job to neutralise that threat. Sometimes that requires them to shoot people who are perceived as a threat.
Yes, sometimes they make mistakes; they're only human. But those mistakes are rare (which is why they are newsworthy); I don't think it's fair to paint them as 'trigger-happy' and I don't think it's a good idea to let just anyone cary a gun and start blasting away anytime they feel the need.
A gun is an offensive weapon; you can't defend yourself with it, you can only attack with it.
And I would like the chance of attacking them if they decided to attack me.
As far as I can see he never fired a shot - why didn't they just sit and wait. He would have lost interest a long time before they did. It seems all too easy to shoot someone as a solution to a problem that was manageable without the use of fatal force. They don't seem to be too concerned that they are going to be successfully prosecuted because history proves they won't be.