Post by LadyPorthos on Mar 1, 2017 16:30:47 GMT
Barney Fife! 
As for the conversation at hand...wow, some interesting points on both sides. The thing about the scenario that @justbec proposed is that most people don't realize just how little time you have to react in those situations. And that holds true even for the police who are trained to respond. It's a matter of SECONDS...not minutes but SECONDS. And in those SECONDS you have to asses the situation, determine the source of the threat, draw your weapon, fire and hopefully hit your target. That's not nearly as easy as it sounds folks. And all the while you're adrenaline is flowing, your heart is pumping, your hands are sweaty and probably shaking. The likelihood of missing entirely or, worse, hitting the wrong person for me FAR outweighs the possibility that you'll safely end the situation. It's just too great a risk as far as I'm concerned.
It's also why, though I realize there are some legitimate cases where the police react improperly, it isn't fair for us to rush to judgment when police shootings occur. Because they're reacting in that same window of seconds and they are human...unfortunately they will make mistakes sometimes. Still, I'd rather have the guns in the hands of the people trained to fire them and not just Joe Citizen.
As for the conversation at hand...wow, some interesting points on both sides. The thing about the scenario that @justbec proposed is that most people don't realize just how little time you have to react in those situations. And that holds true even for the police who are trained to respond. It's a matter of SECONDS...not minutes but SECONDS. And in those SECONDS you have to asses the situation, determine the source of the threat, draw your weapon, fire and hopefully hit your target. That's not nearly as easy as it sounds folks. And all the while you're adrenaline is flowing, your heart is pumping, your hands are sweaty and probably shaking. The likelihood of missing entirely or, worse, hitting the wrong person for me FAR outweighs the possibility that you'll safely end the situation. It's just too great a risk as far as I'm concerned.
It's also why, though I realize there are some legitimate cases where the police react improperly, it isn't fair for us to rush to judgment when police shootings occur. Because they're reacting in that same window of seconds and they are human...unfortunately they will make mistakes sometimes. Still, I'd rather have the guns in the hands of the people trained to fire them and not just Joe Citizen.
