Police Apparently "Outgunned" In The Most Disarmed Nation On Earth, Demanding Rifles For All Cops
Well I nearly fell off the potty this morning when browsing the news on my phone. I'm glad I didn't. It would have been messy and made me late for work.
That's my attempt at humour as a tool to make my posting about a topic that increasingly distresses me more palatable.
It's no surprise that since the Port Arthur massacre in April 1996, Australians have been disarmed. Talking about gun ownership in Australia is like talking about bomb making at an airport. Firearms here are quite taboo; almost as if it's a crime to just speak about them. Doing so must make one a terrorist. Remember that T-word, we'll come back to it.
Special Emergency Response Team police officers at the scene of a siege in Redbank Plains on Saturday morning. Image Credit
Since the late 90s, it's become harder and harder to own or even use firearms. In fact, weapons in general are one of the fastest ways to get you into trouble here. If you're found with more than a ball-point pen in your car during a police stop, watch out!
During my time in the army, dress swords were treated in the same category as fully automatic, belt fed, section assault rifles. Even dummy rounds (not even blanks, literally white lumps of plastic that happened to be in the shape of a round that can be loaded into a magazine and cycled through a rifle for training) were controlled with the same vigour and importance as live ammunition.
It's not hard to see then that there's a galactic chasm between the police and the public when it comes to balance of power. I find it alarming that it's not as uncommon as you'd think to hear about how incidents involving police and perps seem to progress past the use of tasers because they "just didn't work".
According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, in 2016 knives were the most common weapon used in homicides. Firearms were the smallest category (under "other" weapons) at only 15% and that figure as fallen since 2012.
So back to that T-word and me on the potty this morning. I found it alarming to say the least that according to this article, police brass are claiming that "terrorists" are outgunning police (did you notice the picture of the cop at the top of the article?) and they're calling for rifles to be fitted to all cop cars and mandatory training at the recruit level.
This is a further step towards militarisation of the domestic police force and in my opinion is so unjustified given the restrictive gun laws in this country that the claim is laughable. From the article:
Queensland police should carry a rifle in every squad car, with every officer trained in how to use them, a senior officer has argued. Police headquarters would not rule out the sizeable increase in weaponry but criminologist and former cop Terry Goldsworthy warned it was uncalled for.
I'm sure that the analytical and considered reader out there will enjoy this masterful piece of reasoning from Senior Sergeant Tony Collins:
But Senior Sergeant Tony Collins, officer-in-charge at Brisbane’s Moorooka police station, said the policy change was essential to keep up with a changing world.“Get over it. Times are changing more quickly than they think."
That argument is akin to a parent justifying a demand with "because I said so".
His comments came in the wake of two police shootings in Queensland, which allegedly involved knife-wielding offenders. I don't know how a knife "outguns" a taser deployment and subsequent use of a glock. I mean the "offenders" were "terminated" after all, right? Certainly doesn't seem like the police needed more firepower.
Just last Sunday, a 31 year old was murdered by police firearm deployment in the city that I live. Read about it here. Picture of the scene below.
I really am growing fatigued with the the increasing power divide between the state and the citizens and I wonder at what point the public start to cry enough!
I'm crying it.
oh god, the good old Moorooka police station, I grew up within spitting distance from that station. My parents still live there. They are the most useless bunch of twats around, its not manned 24hours either.
The cops would be better off with a MP5 rather than a bloody assault rifle.
Curated for #informationwar (by @openparadigm)
Relevance:Gun Control
If you look into the official government reports, they report around 100 deaths per year at the hands of the police in Australia - While that number surprisingly includes a number of unarmed persons shot in the back for walking away / sorry escaping - apparently these deaths are justified - i can't see how.
The number does not include those murdered by police officers or the fact that one police officer per month swallows the end of his gun and pulls the trigger - Any other business responsible for such a death toll would see all it's senior management behind bars at the very least - yet the public still believe that they are a requirement and operate in the interests of up-holding the law. This couldn't be further from the truth- the police force is only interested in making money by using acts and statutes, which are not laws, to fraudulently trick you out of your common law rights and take your money. Most people have no clue that most acts and statutes have an exemption clause for those that act in the interest of the crown, that's how they get away with murder...... This country has moved so far away from common law that it is now a borderline dictatorship yet the people are ignorant to that fact. The typical Australian response is "shell be right mate" - No it wont, It will only get worse... If it's against the law to carry a gun in public, how can a police officer do it? If it was against the law, then a police officer could not do it.... Not knowing the difference between legal and lawful is the root cause of most of the problems here in Australia....
A passionate response to what is obviously an important topic for you too. Thanks for such a detailed reply. You crysalise the situation very well.
It’s happening everywhere, citizens stripped of one right after another, governments using propaganda and even public school systems and universities to push their agendas.
Taking away guns only protects the government from the people, your cry of foul is with merit, and I believe it’s time not only there but everywhere people push back, there’s more protest today against liberty, and a demand for government support to gain control of the people, that’s the part I find ironic, in that the people are demanding government to take control.
I always end back at the Hegelian principle...
We gotta speak more about this; it seems our voices are fading underneath fear of breaking the new, unjust laws.
That's true. Somehow it's a topic that I find people are uncomfortable even discussing. I find that bizarre.
You hit the nail on the head and certainly it's one of life's ironies that we are instrumental in the deconstruction of our own liberty. What's that saying? "Tyranny is never more than a generation away". Thanks for the thoughtful comment 👍
I would like to tell you that anytime now the "public will cry enough", but I'm afraid I can't. If it's anything like Canada, and I think it is, there's still too many people entrusting their safety in the police, or the other end of the spectrum is the percentage of the population who sadly, just don't care.
The idea of every squad car carrying a rifle is ludicrous, but thanks to some good old fashioned fear mongering, the general population probably buys into it. I'm in complete agreement with
It's akin to the final result of the the most recent Florida school shooting...arm and train teachers in the use of firearms.
Because that will certainly solve the problem.
Wow @lynncoyle1 thank you so much for taking the effort to reply to thoughtfully and articulately. I greatly appreciate it!
I think you're right in saying that the idea of "trust in police" is a consideration. What else can a disarmed, castrated population do?
I really like the Fact that you know what you are talking about, Its amazing how the wold is changing to militarization. I would never have thought this 20 years ago. I thought we were moving to a more peaceful world with equality. How wrong I was.
We can still reverse it, the script hasn't been written yet.
Brilliant reply @hefziba thank you! Yes it's an ongoing degredation that seems just slow enough to go unnoticed.
really nicely said @hefziba ...
it s really sad what actuallu happens, out freedom has come to an end for a long time already
Thank you
Makes sense that they require rifles to defend themselves from knives, knives are dangerous, probably best to defend yourself from 100 yards away.
Sounds less like defense and more like target practice!
pest control
Lol
a person can get hit multiple times with handgun rounds before they drop, if they are within 21 feet of you they can rush you with a knife before you can get your gun out, if your gun is already out they may be able to take a couple shots and still stick you before they drop, it's happened and is proven in practice exercises.
edit, by the way, I don't support your police militarizing themselves while not allowing people to p[protect themselves
look up "21 foot rule"
I am well aware of it, they already use that to justify shooting plenty of people who don't need to be shot, don't let them use it as an excuse to shoot those same people with rifles.
Consider that the police use a tactic called "magazine dumps" that they train in almost exclusively, they say it is for their own safety, because of the "21 foot rule" among other things but the real reason for cops to do magazine dumps is so that they kill whoever they are shooting because they don't want them to be able to testify against them.
A cop told me "you never want them to be able to testify even if you were in the right". Someday someone will figure all this out and do an analysis and conclude that the reason so many more people are killed by police is that the police started doing magazine dumps. I have a police range near my house, it sounds like all hell has broken loose once they start their magazine dump practice sessions.
Next, the police will want armoured cars and tanks! The police are not being taught how to de-escalate situations. You don't de-escalate using force, violence and threats. Violence begets violence. Police are seeing everything as a threat to their life and limb. How often do we hear the bad guys are better equipped? What ever happened to using their brains first? There are ways of dealing with armed thugs and drug addicts with out shooting first.
Some great points @cecicastor. It does make me wonder about the extent to which negotiating and cooperation is taught (if at all) in recruit training now. With comments like "get over it" coming from senior members, I can take a stab - so to say - at an answer.
The police there don't already have APCs and tanks?
How do you deescalate when someone starts driving a van into a crowd?
And you would you a tank in this situation? What about the innocent collateral damage? These people have been on the radar, why weren't they take out before they drove the van into the crowd?
I think that is what makes you and I different, my friend. There are more peaceful ways to deal with violence. Violence only begets more violence. I choose a more peaceful path.
No, I wouldn't. I have been facet to face with a weapon on several ocassions and I did not need a tank to disarm the person.
I didn't say "need" I said want and that was only because you didn't have one handy. The tank is the peaceful path, the knife wielder is safer because the people who have to deal with him are safe from him. police tanks are typically outfitted for defensive use. except that one janet reno had.
Your post is rich in content. What is happening over there is unfortunate. Over here in Nigeria it is difficult for one to get a firearm despite the growing rate of crime because the government prohibited individuals to possess one. However, of late it is becoming increasingly easy for the men of the underworld to acquire firearms even up to the extent of overpowering the police and sometimes the army. Boko haram is one such example.
Agreed, regular police shouldn't have more powerful weapons to deal with the black swan (of in Australia, white Swan) events. It is more likely to end up with accidental killings.
Each police force already has a unit that is trained in these weapons and best way to deploy them in a civilian environment.
For disaster scenarios, you have the SAS...
Hey @bengy that's right. It all seems to be a thinly veiled power grab.
Nothing like a bit of fear and ignorance to get that moving..