return fire Continued from page 12 not right, and I won’t do it?’” Anyone not in law enforcement who’s ever given this question more than 30-seconds of thought, and who has any historical consciousness at all, is already certain of the answer to this. And anyone who’s in law enforcement who thinks they’ll do otherwise when push comes to shove is just fooling themselves. First of all, don’t naively expect the order to come down as, “Here are some harmless citizens, go confiscate their guns.” The targeted group will first be painted as some kind of threat, i.e. terrorists, racists, cultists, secessionists, rightwing extremists, child molesters, drug merchants, or one of a dozen other handy vilifying labels, for which you’ll have only the say-so of your superiors and the media. Your independent judgment, if you have any, will be carefully and methodically prejudiced. You’ll go out and do your duty, possibly reciting the standard mantra, “I don’t write the laws, I just enforce them,” and whatever the local or federal tyrants wanted done will get done. Ironically, as you pointed out, in the one case in recent history where the order did come down in almost exactly those words (Even worse, they were, “Here are some victims of a natural disaster, go confiscate their guns.”), law enforcement officers — both local and on loan from all across the country — botched their character test phenomenally. So much so that quite frankly, the citizenry would be stupid ever again to expect a different result. Next time the gun confiscation order goes out, citizens will expect officers, however constitu- tionally oriented, to enforce it; and those officers can expect to become targets. The myth of “the cops will protect us from unconstitutional acts by their superiors” has already been tested, disproved and put to rest forever. As law enforcement, your job is to start with that reputation as a given, and plan your future improvements from there. Henry Bowman Via e-mail Your point is well taken. I’d ask our readers to listen to the words and realize there’s still a lot of work to be done to overcome the stupidity that was the response to Hurricane Katrina. SH steel resolved 40 years - Steel Structure Fabrication 18 years - Steel Target Manufacturing 16 years - Competitive Shooting Avian Excriment Jason Hoschouer’s article (Cars & Crashes, “Vehicle Code Sneakies” July 2012) is great advice to the troops. Some guys just need special attention. Way back before I retired, I stopped a vehicle and it “became clear” the driver needed to be cited. I finally found the right charge, ARS 28-941.3a, no high beam indicator. As an aside it was voted the most chicken shit cite on the shift … he went to court. Keep up the great articles. Fred J. Brightman Retired patrol sergeant AmericAn COP TM welcomes letters to the editor. We reserve the right to edit all published letters for clarity and length. Due to the volume of mail, we are unable to individually answer your letters or e-mail. In sending a letter to American COP, you agree to provide Publishers Development Corp. such copyright as is required for publishing and redistributing the contents of your letter in any format. Send your letters to return Fire, American COP, 12345 World Trade Dr., San Diego, CA 92128; www.americancopmagazine.com; e-mail: editor@americancopmagazine.com. Leave Nothing To Chance * AMCHAR IS ON THE ROAD! AmChar is Hosting Law Demonstrations Contact Your Area’s Sales Rep & Schedule Your Demo: Internationally Recognized Leader in Innovation, Development and Fabrication of AR500 Steel Target Systems, Tactical Training Systems and Structures. mgmtargets.com 888 767 7371 Made in USA Dealer Inquiries Welcome Get your hands on the Industries Hottest LE Firearms in our booth #1732 at IACP! SEPTEMBER 30 -OCTOBER 3 | SAN DIEGO COVENTION CENTER, SAN DIEGO, CA IACP 2012 119th Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference and Law Enforcement Education and Technology Exposition SEE YOU AT THE SHOW: 9/09 - 9/14 - NTOA TACT SHOW - SEATTLE, WA 9/30 - 10/3 - IACP - SAN DIEGO, CA 10/16-10/17 - COPS WEST - ONTARIO, CANADA 11/6-11/9 - NASGW - ORLANDO, FL 11/26-11/27 - CATO TACT SHOW - SANTA BARBARA, CA 12/4-12/6 - SWAT ROUND UP - ARLANDO, FL 41 WWW.AMERICANCOPMAGAZINE.COM
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