I guess you all think I have lost my brain bringing this subject to the fore front of www.officer.com or anywhere for that matter. However, my task here is to talk about ethics. Gun control in our country is a ball of fire now and we must talk about it. First let’s look at the verbiage of the constitution under the 2nd amendment: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Before I go any further I want it clear to you that, unequivocally, I believe in gun control. Gun control is how many rounds you can put into a police target at 25 yards or while protecting your family. Legally, in my opinion, the only control there is exists under the 2nd amendment which states “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
This is my belief; no one else’s. My forefathers came here from Germany and Scotland. The German side of the family came for religious freedom as they were not allowed to practice as Protestants at home. They landed in Virginia. President Washington didn’t like our kind and ran us down the Appalachia Mountains where we ended up in the Carolinas and Georgia. I still have that bone to pick with GW.
It was engraved into my soul by my father, an uncle who is 85 and still in pain today after being shot up in Korea, two great uncles - one buried at Omaha Beach the other at Normandy - my grandfather, who was on the way to a ship bound for overseas WWI when victory was proclaimed, and… well, I can go on back the Revolutionary war. They fought and died for that piece of paper that we have lived under for over 200 years now.
Very simple; no reading into what was meant as it is one sentence. England wanted to take the firearms of our ancestors and our ancestors wanted to insure that we were able to defend ourselves. Today there are some folks that believe citizens should not have firearms and are hell bent to push their ideas upon the rest of the citizens of this country.
What folks in Washington today don’t understand is that we know is that if THEY declared every AR15 to be illegal and ordered that they be turned in within one year - it ain’t gonna happen. They may get 30% of those out there. What about the rest? Who is going to get them?
You are the first line of defense boys and girls. Now think about that a few minutes. Depending upon the jurisdiction you may or may not have a problem. In some areas there are few if any firearms in citizens’ homes because of local law and ordinances. Still, there will be little resistance.
However, in other locations in which the citizens were taught from age 1 how to use a firearm and shot their first deer at age 6, they are going to act differently. It wouldn’t be pretty. These are locations where there is little law enforcement in the area. These folks know the officers by name and associate with them when off duty.
Do any of you remember Ruby Ridge? There were tragedies on both sides in that case, mentally and physically. Law enforcement officers had a warrant for the arrest of Randy Weaver for failing to appear in court for selling two sawed off shotguns. On August 21, 1992 US Marshals encountered Weaver along with his son Sammy and Kevin Harrison on a roadway on Weaver’s property. One of the marshals shot the Weaver’s dog and a gunfight ensued in which Sammy was killed and Harrison was wounded. Sammy was 14 years old.
A day later Harris, Weaver, and his daughter Sarah left the cabin with the intent to bury Sammy. A FBI sniper fearing that Harrison was armed and was going to shoot at a helicopter in the area shot and wounded Weaver. As they ran back to the cabin the sniper fired again killing Vicki Weaver as she held her infant daughter.
Weaver surrendered nine days later. Weaver and Harris were tried and acquitted in a federal court of murder and other charges. They later filed a 1983 action against the officers and departments involved and were awarded 3.1 million dollars.
First, Randy Weaver broke the law by possessing the shotguns; no argument that officers had legal right to be there and they took what action they believed was necessary. What bothers me is how many Ruby Ridge scenarios we will have if laws are passed to ban and direct seizure of firearms. Can you imagine?
We will have to think this through. Ethically, could you seize someone’s firearm? Realistically, how far would you be willing to go? Is it worth it? These are serious questions you have to figure out for yourselves. Questions like these make me feel happy to be retired.
Randy Rider
Randy Rider has been employed as a law enforcement officer for 32 years. He is still an active law enforcement officer serving in the capacity of training and internal affairs. Over the course of his career he has conducted hundreds of investigations concerning abuse, neglect, and use of force by police and corrections officers.
Lieutenant Rider was elected president of the National Internal Affairs Investigators Association in May of 2005. The association has a members employed in agencies throughout the United States and Canada. Lieutenant Rider is also a national instructor for the Public Agency Training Council, Indianapolis, Indiana.
