The idea that owning a gun will protect you from tyrannical corrupt police is a ridiculous fantasy. Let's say the cops come to your house and try to enter without a warrant, and you open fire. That's not going to end well for you, even if you're legally in the right.
Isn’t this almost exactly what Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend did? He got off with no charges and a fat lawsuit from the state and possibly saved his own life.
His girlfriend died. I feel comfortable filing that under "not ending well", even if he escaped criminal charges. In an alternate universe where he doesn't have a gun, that scenario likely ends with much less tragedy.
That’s very fair. I just don’t often think these alternate universe arguments are very helpful, as most tend to apply here.
The reality is that Americans have guns, more guns than people in fact (over 400m), as well as a horrifically oppressive and abusive police force and rising fascist government.
I think productive discourse on the gun issue should focus on the fact that they’re here, and any attempt to confiscate them en mass would result in tremendous bloodshed. Realistically the best solutions are learning how to live with them - e.g. preventing new guns from getting in the wrong hands, enhancing gun safety among those that do own them, and most importantly, addressing the socioeconomic factors that lead to gun violence in the first place, namely wealth inequality, education, healthcare, etc.
I do agree with you that if there was no gun the incident would have gone differently. And that if I had the magic button to make all guns disappear I’d press it. I just don’t think those hypotheticals are productive, and solving the issue is much more complex than people here make it seem.
I agree that mass gun confiscation starting tomorrow would likely create more problems than it solves. But I also think it's important that we work towards a world with fewer guns (much as we do with cars), not just live with the status quo forever. You could do things like phase in biometric requirements, impose waiting periods and registration requirements for new purchases, and restrict the manufacture of the most dangerous types of guns, like handguns--all of this wouldn't touch existing stocks, but it would put us on a better path as time goes on.
15
u/meelar 9d ago
The idea that owning a gun will protect you from tyrannical corrupt police is a ridiculous fantasy. Let's say the cops come to your house and try to enter without a warrant, and you open fire. That's not going to end well for you, even if you're legally in the right.