Guns: A Distressing Trend

I grew up in a typical American suburb, the sort you might see in a sitcom. Plenty of different people lived there - we had retirees, young families, old families. There were also half a dozen families that included police officers. We saw their cruisers and SUVs parked in their driveways, and no one gave them a second glance.

This post by ColtCCO is part of a growing militarization of the police, segregating from modern society. Whenever you hear a law enforcement officer call somebody a "civilian," it's a symptom of this syndrome. Whenever you see some police department's new shiny armored car, it's a symptom. And whenever you see outrageous conduct directed toward an average citizen who just happens to be lawfully carrying a firearm...well, you get the idea.

The recent trend in the Supreme Court has been to balance individual rights with crime control. The police are given extraordinary discretion nowadays to do their jobs. I think most of this is justified, but it's unsettling when you see abuses like this. I am friends with a couple of fine young police officers, so I'm hopeful for the future.