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    Raging BulldogHamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 1:42pm

    Cops see firsthand how often illegal weapons are used in crimes. They would prefer harsher sentencing for gun crimes than more gun control.

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      StairmasternemRaging Bulldog
      7/18/16 1:50pm

      Pretty much this.

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      RJWolfRaging Bulldog
      7/18/16 1:52pm

      If criminals cared about the potential consequences of their crimes, they wouldn’t be criminals. Do you think the fear of serving life in prison stops a criminal from murdering someone?

      The only way to effectively stop gun crimes is to make it more difficult to get a gun. You can make laws that say that anyone found carrying a gun will automatically be executed, and it won’t stop criminals - who have no regard for the law - from doing it.

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    Dave Hamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 1:46pm

    I CANNOT understand why modern cops are not for gun control. I was a cop in the mid 90's during the assault weapons ban (yes, yes Gun Rubbers, I know it didn’t DO anything) and most cops considered it a GOOD thing. Every gun not in the wild is a gun that couldn’t be pointed at US.

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      Al b sureDave
      7/18/16 1:55pm

      I know some cops. And almost all of them are for gun control.

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      AsomughatoMouthDave
      7/18/16 1:56pm

      I would have figured this exact thing, as well. I cannot understand why more cops aren’t pro-gun control.

      Tho i know there are a lot of vets who become cops, and my experience working alongside a lot of vets has suggested to me that vets are much more likely to be anti-gun control. So maybe that’s it.

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    BobbySeriousHamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 1:42pm

    Couldn’t agree with your thoughts on this more Hamilton, and we’re starting to hear grumblings from local police precincts supporting this, which is at least a start.

    The only thing I would add is the NRA aren’t really “callous, heartless extremists”, they are the lobbying group for gun manufacturers, nothing more. Their job is to maintain the river of guns flooding American streets, and that INCLUDES making sure there are plenty of loopholes to allow any criminal, thug, wife-beater, terrorists, or other miscreant to be able to buy guns at will.

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      Ka Mai - New and ImprovedBobbySerious
      7/18/16 1:47pm

      The only thing I would add is the NRA aren’t really “callous, heartless extremists”, they are the lobbying group for gun manufacturers, nothing more.

      Those are not mutually exclusive concepts, but, in fact, complimentary ones.

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      YanktonBobbySerious
      7/18/16 1:50pm

      I’d have to argue “maintain[-ing] the river of guns flooding American streets” would be the very definition of callous, heartless extremism.

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    Kavi ReddyHamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 3:55pm

    What if they made judgments due to police brutality paid out from police pensions (or some sort of similar police fund) instead of taxpayer money? Would police officers then root out bad seeds because their own finances would be at risk?

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      JBevKavi Reddy
      7/19/16 11:49am

      Market Based Solutions to Social Problems are almost always bullshit canards.

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    not_productiveHamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 1:52pm

    Had this same thought over the weekend when I heard the head of the Cleveland police union begging the governor to do SOMETHING about the insane rules (fake guns: not ok. Real guns? Ok) in place around the convention center. In Dallas, protesters (legally entitled to open carry) were approaching cops to turn over their guns so they didn’t get mistaken for a threat and accidentally shot. The “good guys with guns” didn’t run toward the chaos to “send bullets the other way” - they got the fuck out of the way of law enforcement doing its job.

    Judging who is a good guy and who is a bad guy in any situation is fucking DIFFICULT, even for trained LEOs. Adding a bunch of amateurs with AR-15s (more potentially lethal than the weapons cops typically carry) into the mix certainly doesn’t make it easier.

    Not that any of that is going to actually move the unions or the NRA, but it’s a good point and a good thought.

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      Niconot_productive
      7/18/16 2:41pm

      I don't understand open carry at all... If you really can't take a stroll without a gun, conceal it so you at least aren't bothering other people. If you're out in the middle of nowhere (hiking, hunting, whatever), not so big a deal, wear it however is convenient. If you're wandering around downtown with a rifle, you're just an asshole going out of your way to bother other people. Aren't there public nuisance laws of some sort that should cover that shit?

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      John DoeNico
      7/18/16 10:26pm

      That is a great idea! However, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that concealed carry is NOT a right, but a privilege. In CA open carry is illegal except in EXTREMELY rural areas.

      How do you get around that if you want to carry but can’t?

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    GrumpyEagleHamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 2:00pm

    And then there's the current darling of the GOP, Sheriff David Clarke, who has aired "Law Enforcement Tips" such as the one telling citizens to get a gun, get trained, and aim for center mass because calling 911 is a waste of time and the cops aren't going to be of any use whatsoever. (But, they will come to pick the body up, which is nice.)

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      Carlos Danger is my spirit animalGrumpyEagle
      7/18/16 2:44pm

      The courts have ruled that the police have no obligation to protect you, only to investigate a crime after it happens. So telling people to be adequately prepared to protect themselves, particularly if they live in a bad neighborhood, is actually somewhat prudent.

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      GrumpyEagleCarlos Danger is my spirit animal
      7/18/16 3:03pm

      The thing is, most of Clarke’s most avid supporters and listeners skew white and suburban, where they are fully convinced Those People are out to steal their trucks and take their wimmens. Those who live in Bad Neighborhoods are already fans of self-arming (and they end up in jail for shooting loud talkers, fools, and the occasional actual criminal).

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    ManushkaHamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 1:57pm

    back when Black Talon bullets came out it WAS the Cop Unions who where against it, Cop Unions have gone against the NRA

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      PeteRRManushka
      7/18/16 2:14pm

      Black Talons were no more dangerous than any other hollowpoint round. The uproar over them was complete theatre.

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      ManushkaPeteRR
      7/18/16 6:11pm

      A buddy had some, he said the same thing. But it is an example of when the Cops where not so in agreement with the NRA

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    det-devil-ailsHamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 1:46pm

    The NRA would never acquiesce to law enforcement calling for gun control. They’ve made too much money convincing their more... er... “enthusiastic” members that it’s the “jack-booted-thugs” of law enforcement that they need to arm themselves against.

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      butcherbakertoiletrymakerdet-devil-ails
      7/18/16 1:53pm

      Bingo. All the NRA would have to do is release some PR posters of people dressed in police uniforms goose-stepping through a middle-American suburban street, terrorizing good, law-abiding citizens, and taking their perfectly-safe-not-at-all-dangerous guns. The war between the NRA and the police unions would end with the unions firing a warning shot, and the NRA nuking them from space.

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    StairmasternemHamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 1:59pm

    I agree that the police unions are in a great position to champion a cause to better protect society. What that position is needs more definition here. Perhaps you have an article on Gawker to link that surmises Gawker’s opinion on what gun control should actually look like? Because right now you’re no better than a politician, creating a stir for something without offering any sort of solution.

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      NicoStairmasternem
      7/18/16 2:42pm

      It's gawker, I'm sure their idea of "sensible gun control" is 100% bans on 100% of guns, airsoft and super soaker included.

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      StairmasternemNico
      7/18/16 2:50pm

      Oh yeah, the prohibition route.

      Maybe Buffalo will become a major mafia city again then.

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    emooHamilton Nolan
    7/18/16 1:52pm

    Thank you for writing this in such a way that no officers will make it past the headline. Let’s call this style, “activitriol”

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      theunseenoneemoo
      7/18/16 2:54pm

      I didn’t make it past the headline either. What’s the point of an article if you make the title so abhorrent that nobody wants to continue?

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      emootheunseenone
      7/18/16 4:21pm

      It’s performative. This is not to say that there’s no good information in the article, but it’s the equivalent of yelling at the neighbor kids, “Hey fuckface, safety first!”

      Delivery matters. Do we want to score points with our peers or fix the problem?

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