poliWA

SUPREME COURT RULING: Police Have No Duty To Protect The General Public

People who don’t understand taking responsibility for your own safety often ask me why I wouldn’t just call the police to stop a crime instead of drawing a gun. Well for one, a great police response time would be 1-2 minutes, but most crimes take place in a matter of seconds. Two, police have no duty to protect me, or you.

Ugghhg I hate manipulation like this. What the court was saying is that there is simply no way for police to protect every single citizen at any given moment as there is literally no way to do that. The premise is that if the police establish security protection for you such as if you are being stalked or something, and they fail to stop an attacker from getting to you they are at fault because they have established specific security for you. If you call into 911 they will do their best but there simply can be no guarantee that by calling 911 you will stop a crime. Painting police officers as uniformly uncaring and ineffectual is just so wrong. People flip out if you say anything that could be construed as negative to the military but are totally fine with putting police officers?

It just further illustrates the point that gun control advocates fail to comprehend or care about… the police can’t always and are often unable to be there to protect you. This is why it’s so important to take the responsibility to protect yourself and your loved ones seriously and have the right to do so unrestricted if and when you do.

(Source: poliwa, via )

Jan 25 13

zeren:

I just learned that ALL the theaters in my town are gun free zones. If I follow the law, I’m not allowed to protect myself. That’s some bullshit.

What state are you in? Certain state constitutions have preemption clauses that make it illegal for local counties/municipalities to pass laws that limit lawful carry beyond what the state already permits. In Washington for example, it’s illegal to carry into bars, courthouses, etc. but everything else is lawful. Business owners still have the right to restrict what happens on their private property, but if someone violates their rules (even those restricting firearms) the most they can do is ask them to leave. Failure to comply could result in a trespassing charge, but otherwise you would be committing no crime.

I’ve found opencarry.org to be a very good resource on lawful carry, even for those that do so concealed, if you’re interested in researching a particular state’s laws.

Oct 19 12

I just took the 2012 Presidential election quiz and found that I side the most with Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson. Who do you side with?

Apr 26 12

(Source: poliwa)

Dec 14 11

charlietodd:

I had seen a clip of this Romney encounter on TV a few times, but seeing the full version here, including the man’s comments after Romney leaves, really tells the full story.

It is fascinating to watch politicians have to look gay people in the eye as they advocate for their inequality. The abstract “gay” is very different from the gay veteran sitting at a diner with his husband, or a lesbian mother showing off her ridiculously cute daughters in the face of a mayor who made a derogatory statement about “queers” on Facebook.

It is really starting to feel like the politics have changed so much since 2004. If marriage equality becomes a major issue in 2012, I think it’s actually going to be a really bad thing for Republicans. Though Obama better keep “evolving” if he’s going to be on the right side of history.

(via chriskelly)

A bad thing for everyone except Ron Paul. Despite personally thinking marriage should be between a man and woman, he believes government has never been granted authority over its definition and that marriage should be a strictly private matter. If government involvement were removed, personal definitions of marriage would then be protected by the First Amendment and there would be no law forcing people to follow one view or another.

(via charlietodd)

Nov 19 11

“ I was there to take down the names of people who were arrested… As I’m standing there, some African-American woman goes up to a police officer and says, ‘I need to get in. My daughter’s there. I want to know if she’s OK.’ And he said, ‘Move on, lady.’ And they kept pushing with their sticks, pushing back. And she was crying. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, he throws her to the ground and starts hitting her in the head,” says Smith. “I walk over, and I say, ‘Look, cuff her if she’s done something, but you don’t need to do that.’ And he said, ‘Lady, do you want to get arrested?’ And I said, ‘Do you see my hat? I’m here as a legal observer.’ He said, ‘You want to get arrested?’ And he pushed me up against the wall. Retired New York Supreme Court Judge Karen Smith, working as a legal observer after the raids on Zucotti Park this Tuesday, via Paramilitary Policing of Occupy Wall Street: Excessive Use of Force amidst the New Military Urbanism (via seriouslyamerica)(via bakethatlinguist)(via liquornspice)

(via dalasverdugo)

Apr 18 11

poliWA

A log of news, politics and philosophy in the interest of liberty, justice and free-thinking within Washington state, nationally and abroad.

Oct 8 09