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Situation in France
Story here.
Yep, it was a mistake to leave his pistol at home; I'd have suggested bringing a 12 gauge with buckshot, too, if the officer was actually allowed to own one.
Around here, tho, if rioters had beaten a responding officer with clubs, and fired on others with shotguns, I suspect some lead would have been flying, and it it would have been bigger than birdshot. And if Pima Count Sheriff's Office were somehow outnumbered, they could have called upon the good citizenry, who (1) were probably even more heavily armed and (2) aren't really conversant with the details of deadly force policy and tend to think the test is a little more like "did he need killing?"
Fact: about 30 years ago, the city police department went on strike. Burglary rates fell. Burglars knew that with law enforcement functioning, many victims would call 911. Response would give time for escape, and officers responding would be bound by standard policies restricting use of deadly force.
Without it in operation, the citizenry would figure they had to deal with it on their own, and would answer to grand juries composed of citizens who knew they'd had to do the same thing.
· non-US
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I didn't know the French had a Gun Show loophole or even gun shows. Where did they get the guns? Where is Mike Bloomberg? Does he have the number to call Inspector Clouseau for an undercover sting?
Baseball bats in France?!
Rudy, you apparently don't know very much about France. Hunting is quite popular there. Ditto target shooting. Handguns are pretty difficult to own = license requirements and caliber limits.
http://www.ssaa.org.au/newssaa/political%20archive/legislativereports/aug97.htm
Arizona sounds like a fine place to live.
>>Yep, it was a mistake to leave his pistol at home.
I think there is something to the trope that Europeans tend to treat handguns as ceremonial totems and badges of office rather than as serious fighting tools.
When traveling abroad, I'm always tickled by the way in which officials proudly carry their teeny little Makarovs or .380's, when I consider that I know dead American grandmothers who where buried with more firepower than that.
I'm starting to like Sarkozy more as I read more about the things he has said.
I can't stand the mentality of people like those described in the article. You've got two teenage boys out on an "unlicensed motorcycle" that collides with a police car, and we have to riot and try to kill police when those stupid kids get themselves killed? So it's the fault of the police that they forced those poor, innocent boys to ride around illegally?
Then we've got the commenters on the article. On liberal (anarchist?) from the UK attacks Americans and reprehensibly defends the actions of the French rioters, saying "All the French rioters did was shoot at a few police and beat a few of them up." Oh, gee, is that all they did? They just smashed a cop's face with an iron bar, broke his ribs and punctured his lung? And shot out the eye of another? Well then, let's have the government buy them all cookies!
Cr@p like that make me so angry I could spit.
France is an old woman who will spread her legs for anybody who would rape her. Muslims are rapists of everyone who doesn't stop them.
Sorry, for the political incorrectness, not sorry I used it, for it is true, but I am sorry that not many have the guts to say it because it is true.
That 911 outage story sounds very interesting--I'd love to read more about that, please.