Sir:
I watched in horror as N.Y. Governor Cuomo declared their new law was the most restrictive gun law in the country. In their haste, the Legislature forgot to carve out an exemption to the seven-round magazine limit for officers. What got me upset was why should police be exempt from the laws average citizens have to obey? As a police officer, I wasn’t allowed to drive recklessly, do drugs or break any law citizens had to obey. Why should I be exempt from this one?
The meaning of the second amendment isn’t for hunting or target shooting. It’s to preserve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Those rights are given to us by our creator. They aren’t something that’s issued by a governmental agency on a whim and withdrawn whenever it feels like it. In order to maintain those rights, you need the means to enforce them. Just as police officers carry guns to save lives and preserve peace, law-abiding citizens have the same right.
When I took my oath as a police officer, I swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I will never obey an order to disarm law-abiding citizens or obey an order that runs contrary to the constitution. I urge police officers to consider this issue carefully. This is an usagainst-them battle, but the “them” are those who would dismantle our rights.
–Retired Cop
Retired Cop,
It’s a good thing you’ve retired since you’ve decided not to enforce certain laws. You might want to check the oath you took. Along with the Constitution, it probably said something about the laws of the state and the orders of those appointed above you.
Thanks for your interpretation of the second amendment. That’s something that’s gone on for years by constitutional scholars and will continue to go on for as long as our great nation stands. But now that we have your version, those folks can relax.
As for your religious argument, I’ve looked at history a bit and have been to church a time or two. Neither says anything about God appearing at the constitutional convention or writing the constitution. So even if those who wrote it had a Christian paradigm, it was people who did the writing. Those same people wrote the 10th amendment, which grants the states power to pass other (or more restrictive) laws.
While we’re at it, aren’t hunting and target shooting done in the pursuit of happiness?
Since you’re against law enforcement exemptions, we should also probably not carry guns at all in states where that’s not allowed. We shouldn’t be allowed to turn on some pretty lights and then be able to ignore traffic laws. For that matter, why should someone be able to sign something that says the fourth amendment no longer applies to you, so now I can blow up your door at zero-darkthirty and run into your house with a bunch of my friends, trash the place and take all sorts of stuff. Jeez, that exemption seems to make home invasion legal for cops!
Gun Debate
Really, the whole gun debate is a bit ridiculous. None of the legislative “fixes” have resolved anything. A few years back in Irvine, Calif., they had a guy go active violence with a sword. He was in a grocery store chopping on people until the cops got there and put him down. Even if we were somehow able to get rid of the guns, it wouldn’t stop active violence. It might make it much easier for cops to get the guy and allow people to out-run the suspect’s ability to do harm, but it doesn’t really matter. There are about 200 million guns out there, and fairly open access from Mexico for anyone who wants a gun.
I’m not a gun nut. I own some and I carry a bunch either on me or in my car. My primary weapon only holds seven in the mag and I’m confident I can manage with that number or at least with that number and a few mag changes if need be.
I do, however, believe in exemptions for cops. We need to be able to outgun the crooks. I was at a recent shooting scene, in a neighboring jurisdiction, where one officer died and another was badly injured. The deputies and officers in that fire fight put out about 1,000 rounds to keep the crook’s head down while they performed a rescue on the two downed officers. Having restricted mags might have cost more cops their lives. I hope New York fixes their law quickly. Cops today must have the ability to meet force with equal or greater force.
