Dreamstime

By Chris McBride, MD

Dear Editor,

There are several issues that are extremely hot and heavy at this moment in the USA and one of the hottest seems to be the wish by so many to confiscate firearms from everyone except law enforcement officers.

The average number of school children who have died per year due to shootings in schools is 9 to 10 per year over the last 25 years.

In the USA, the 1991 violent crime rate was 758/100,000 people. In 2016 it was 397/100,000 people. The murder rate in 1991 was 9.8/100,000 and in 2016 was 5.3/100,000. Each of these has decreased by more than 45% in 25 years. The point is: Violent crime is NOT increasing as more and more people are in possession of firearms.

Every mass shooting since 1991, except for one, has been in an area where firearms were not permitted.

If we don’t learn from history, history will repeat itself. One of the first things Hitler did in Europe was to make sure that only the government agents and entities had firearms. There were 6 million Jews who had no firearms in their possession just before they were taken for “a shower”. There were tens of millions of others killed who also were not permitted to have a firearm.

Switzerland requires that all households have an “assault rifle” and they have one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the world. Mexico has some of the most restrictive laws regarding firearm ownership and they have tens of thousands of people killed in the last few years by wrongful and illegal use of firearms.

It is quite clear to many of us that more laws and more restrictions do not deter criminals or crazy people. It has always been true that: “We cannot legislate morality.”

If we value our freedoms, such as freedom of religion and of speech, we need to also value our right to be protected from tyranny within our government, as the First Amendment is dependent upon the presence of the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment does not state that firearms are allowed if there is a need, the Second Amendment lets us know that firearm ownership is a right. There are those in the USA today running for public office that would like to have the Second Amendment repealed

* * * * *

As a retired pediatrician, father, grandfather and great grandfather, I am adamant about steps to protect and safeguard our children. However, it seems quite unreasonable to send our precious children to places where there is no protection against that one crazy person out of thousands of people. The best way to be safe is to have someone around with a firearm and hopefully a firearm as competent as the one being used by that one crazy person—even the infamous “assault rifle”.

And, we have seen the results over and over, even recently, that “When seconds count, the police are only minutes away.”

Cris McBride, MD

 

The preceding is a letter Dr. McBride recently sent to his local paper in Arizona regarding the call for more gun control laws. This originally appeared at drgo.us and is reprinted here with permission. 

64 COMMENTS

    • Since he’s a great-grandfather and RETIRED pediatrician; I think he has zero f^&ks left to give on that matter…

    • Nice that he’s speaking out, regardless. Unfortunately, the AMA, major medical journals, and other medical organizations have been taken over by leftists who more or less claim to speak for the profession.

  1. Ummm…OK. BREAKING:the punkazz Dixon school shooter “may” have gotten his gat from his mamma. We’ll see(or not). Good guy with a gun for the win!

      • Yup, not to mention those innocents who die due to the youngsters texting. I believe a law needs to be passed prohibiting anyone under the age of 21 from possessing cell phones capable of texting. Flip phones only.

  2. See now? We here in Arizona define “common sense” in a whole new revolutionary way… it’s like an epiphany, a revelation, a eureka….

    It’s like… common sense.

    In California, it goes something like this: “We fully respect and support the Second Amendment. Nobody is coming to take your guns away. But nobody neeeeds a semi-automatic machine gun that can shoot a high capacity clip in a few seconds. The only purpose of that is to murder a lot of people before the police can get there. And so these kinds of military assault weapons shouldn’t be allowed to be purchased by children at a gun show without any kind of license or registration. I mean, *** it’s just common sense ***.”

    In Arizona, it’s more like: “We have lots of guns. We like our guns. They’re useful for all sorts of things. And, we think it’s our natural god-given right to keep and bear arms because we are a free people. Thankfully, our civil rights to do just that are also protected by the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States of America. Yes, we will expose and share our guns with our children. If you teach these children proper gun safety, and teach them to properly handle and shoot firearms, and you exercise a healthy respect for potentially dangerous tools, then your children will also grow up to be responsible armed citizens. But, it’s a free country… so, if you don’t like guns, then don’t buy them, and let us teach your children later when they become adults and make their own choices. That’s just common sense.”

    I know, right? Plus, we have the coolest flag in the nation. 🙂

    Be safe.

    • The key point that you bring up is teaching your children respect and the safe handling of firearms. The leftists do not believe in teaching their children to respect anything. Therefore if they just ban guns for all, then they are safe from having their kids shooting them because the child did not get its way about something.

      • Like I said, man… tottttttallly revolutionary! Never been done before! Never even been thought of being been done before!*

        *Except maybe by several generations of good, hard-working folks… in a kind of ordinary, necessary, consciously and deliberately applied manner commensurate with constructing a healthy society and raising decent citizens to populate it.

        But other than that wee-little exception– NEW! And IMPROVED! Common sense Arizona Style, coming to a town near you (hopefully…). Embrace the FUTURE!

        …unrepentant libertarian, hmm? I like it. In fact, I am pretty sure you stole that straight from my beating heart and soul….

        UNREPENTANT LIBERTARIAN! “Common sense” has been hijacked by these ridiculous clowns who sincerely (and when I say “sincerely,” I mean “brain damagedly”) believe you can legislate morality and dictate the conduct of humanity by peppering the population with useless laws and regulations. This is bound to work like speed bumps in the neighborhood– most people will begrudgingly slow down, but some will not, and children will still get run over (because play in the street, why worry, speed bumps make it safe!), and everyone will cry and moan and say, “HOW? How could this happen? We put the speed bumps there!”

        And we will look on thinking, “Didn’t anyone of you ever consider your appropriate conduct when driving through this residential street? Didn’t anyone of you teach your children to get out of the street when a car came? Didn’t anyone of you ask your neighbor why he was in such a hurry, and explain that we need to look out for each other and our children? Oh, but the speed bumps… we didn’t have to bother with all that silliness of common sense behavior did we?”

        And then the speed bumps will grow bigger, and there’ll be more of them. And the fine for running them too fast will go up. And we’ll pay for a cop to nanny-sit the street. And then we’ll shame our neighbors into buying smaller cars that will cause less injury when they do run over another kid… aaaaagain.

        But lord forbid we take “the hard way” and just get it right the first time. Ya know, because it is the right thing to do.

        Speed bumps, gun laws, same nonsense. Why do all these kids get killed? I mean, we have the speed bumps! And they are painted YELLOW for Pete’s sake.

        Nobody listens to me because I’m an old fat white guy who isn’t old, fat, or white. What do I know… well, whatever it is– I’m unrepentant and I cherish my freedom. 🙂 here here

  3. We need to start vetting ALL PURCHASES OF FIREARMS PERIOD. The tens of thousands of State laws are absolutely meaningless because any nut case can go to gun shows or buy from individuals in most states and those states where you cannot buy the nut case simply crosses state lines or buys a stolen gun so what can we do about it? Plenty.

    1. Vet all gun sales no exceptions. Police tracings show that guns from states with lax laws are constantly being funneled into states that have strict laws making all state laws meaningless without a Federal Vetting law for all gun sales.

    2. Safe storage laws will cut way down on smash and grab gun thefts and save 1,300 children’s lives a year not to mention those that are crippled for life. They are shot because its perfectly legal in most states to let loaded guns laying out where children can find them.

    3. Require better vetting of mentally ill people

    4. Fund money for affordable mental health treatments for those that are in need of mental health care i.e. A NATIONAL HEALTH CARE SYSTEM.

    5. Mandatory safety training before a permit to buy a weapon is granted

    6. Federal law that makes it legal to confiscate firearms from violent people that threaten to harm others especially in domestic violence cases.

    7. Mandatory training on when a person can legally use deadly force.

    8. Income tax credits for those that install security alarm systems. Again its another way to cut way down on gun thefts from homes.

    • 1. How would you like to do that? Just the buyer? Are we tracking first information as well?
      2. Will disproportionately raise cost to own firearms for those that are more likely to need them besides the issue of needing it “now”.
      3. I’m all for it. How do you propose doing it? Who’s paying? Voluntary? Due process? Timeline?
      4. Who’s paying for it?
      5. Who’s paying for it? Who’s going to come up with the standard? “Granted” a permit….. Sounds like a”Right” to me.
      6. Ok. Due process right?
      7. See 5
      8. I guess youyou get back a little of that extra tax you’d be paying to exercise your Right with all your new programs

      • To Jack who fell out of the bean stock on his head.

        quote—————————-1. How would you like to do that? Just the buyer? Are we tracking first information as well?
        2. Will disproportionately raise cost to own firearms for those that are more likely to need them besides the issue of needing it “now”.
        3. I’m all for it. How do you propose doing it? Who’s paying? Voluntary? Due process? Timeline?
        4. Who’s paying for it?
        5. Who’s paying for it? Who’s going to come up with the standard? “Granted” a permit….. Sounds like a”Right” to me.
        6. Ok. Due process right?
        7. See 5
        8. I guess youyou get back a little of that extra tax you’d be paying to exercise your Right with all your new programs—————————————————–quote

        Look Genius boy we already have had the Government Brady Bill in operation for decades and it would be easy to have it cover all gun purchases and the medical info is often available but just not fed into the Brady background check system. Every Hospital and Doctor in my area are all tied into a system that lets them track your medical records and a simple computer change would flag deviants that have information that needs to go into the background check system.

        Now even if it would cost little more what in the hell is the alternative, do nothing like the ignorant Hill Jacks scream, and then because of a panicked public have most all of your guns and gun rights taken away. Brilliant! Its like trying to save a penny today so that it will guarantee you go bankrupt tomorrow. And by the way that is exactly what is going on as we speak and its only going to get a lot worse in all states the longer the Hill Jacks prevent anything from being done to stop the mass murder on a weekly basis.

        Many States who have concealed carry laws already require people to fork over the cash to get a concealed carry permit and the training that goes with it and requiring all gun owners whether they get a ccw or not to go through the same training process is not rocket science as the programs and training often are already in place.

        Now lets look at Mental Health Care. I just saw on the news the latest ship the U.S. commissioned and just that one ship cost billions to produce so do not tell me if we can spend that kind of money on just one ship we could not take all the money that ship costs us and it would have helped tens of thousands of people who needed mental health care or just health care in general. Being the worlds biggest Nazi Country of the 21st Century which has invaded and bombed more countries than the German Nazi’s did In WWII comes with a terrible price tag i.e. the people go without health care, free education, safe roads and bridges, a high speed rail system, affordable retirement and a guaranteed livable wage.

        No Nation on earth squanders the trillions we do on wars of rape, pillage and conquest and the hardware that it takes to do it with. And since the end of WWII we have lost every major war of conquest we started. Shades of the fall of the Roman Empire.

        • Crisco you honestly come across as the kind of person who’s going to shoot up a concert or school to prove some kind of sick point.

        • Uh, those medical and mental health records are sealed by Hippa [sic]. You blithering moron.

        • Yes, it is shades of the Roman Empire indeed. All about who holds the power, and the army, and the slaves they control to build their riches.

        • Why do you suppose that cisco is so big on mental illness and free mental care? Is it because he badly needs it?

    • Take it from a L.E.O. Most law enforcement in the United States not only do not agree with you, but believe that what you propose will make things worse. I tell people an L.E.O. has two jobs. We’re historians and janitors. We write down what happened and clean up the mess. You want someone to save your ass? Look for him in the mirror.

      Oh, by the way. You’re an idiot. Why don’t you shut up and quit embarrassing yourself.

      • To Paul Pot retired leader of the Khmer Rouge

        quote————————————Take it from a L.E.O. Most law enforcement in the United States not only do not agree with you, but believe that what you propose will make things worse. I tell people an L.E.O. has two jobs. We’re historians and janitors. We write down what happened and clean up the mess. You want someone to save your ass? Look for him in the mirror.

        Oh, by the way. You’re an idiot. Why don’t you shut up and quit embarrassing yourself.
        ————————————-quote

        First off your wild ass statement about Law Enforcement is pure bunk. Second every Industrialized Nation on earth has those above mentioned gun control laws plus a few more and their gun crime and mass murders are only a fraction of what ours is proving that yes their laws work and that is why they were passed.

        Did you notice not one of my proposals was about taking any guns away but we have nut cases like you ranting against the proposed laws. Your a poster boy for the reasons that we stand an almost certain chance of getting more and more gun confiscation laws because we refuse to do even the basics to prevent gun crime and mass murder. This is not rocket science.

        • Yeah, gun control sure as shit shut down the Paris attacks; didn’t it? By the way, how many L.E.O.s do you know. I generally talk to two, or three a day. And I’m retired. Cisco, you speak of which you do not know. Yawn! You’re beginning to bore me. Arguing with idiots always does that to me.

        • Cisco: Every month or so another million guns are sold into the consumer market. An unknown number of guns are cobbled-together in basement workbenches. Google CNC machine tools and 3D printing. Google 80% receivers. We are already at the point where any goof with a modicum of craftsmanship skills can make his own gun; or, find someone in his neighborhood to make it for him. Google smuggling. Google trafficking in contraband.

          The genie is out of its bottle and it won’t go back in. As long as there is a gun-culture with 80 – 100 million consumers lawfully trading in the legitimate marketplace there will be guns, parts, ammunition and ammunition components available to everyone who wants them.

          The age of controlling access to guns at the point-of-sale is over. You are free to screw the lid shut whenever you recognize it. It’s OK with me that you don’t recognize it ever. We have the guns; we are keeping them. There is nothing you can do about that.

          There is ONE thing that you could do. You could support the enforcement of felon-in-posession laws. They are hardly enforced at all today. These laws are due for serious reform; if you would like to discuss how they ought to be reformed, we in the gun community will cheerfully engage in a 2-way discussion.

          I anticipate that – were you to look into the felon-in-posession enforcement issue – you will decline my invitation to support their enforcement. The problem, you see, is that our nation’s prisons are full to capacity. There remains no “room in the inn”. Cell space must be rationed; and rationed it will be. Legislators, judges and prosecutors decide how to ration that scarce resource. Even if taxpayers were willing to pay for building more prisons, legislators would not build them.

          This policy is not set by gun owners. Gun owners would like to see more prison cells built. They would like to see a different set of priorities on which crimes get longer sentences. But no one listens to gun owners on this topic. You, Cisco, and your friends decide these things for our society. As long as you have your priorities, we will continue to vigorously pursue our own priorities.

          We will not go gently into your boxcar. We will continue to go gently about our business, tending our farms and shops and caring for our families. And we will carry on.

        • “Did you notice not one of my proposals was about taking any guns away ” -cisco kid

          “6. Federal law that makes it legal to confiscate firearms… ” -cisco kid

          It would appear that this deep into his mental illness, cisco believes that the verb “to confiscate”, does not mean “to take away”. Or perhaps he cannot remember what he wrote only minutes before. Either way, the signs of mental decay are clear. One cannot reason with crazy. All attempts will fail.

        • Cisco,

          The thing you have to realize is that many of us would rather be truly free than have the government provide our (local/immediate) security. It’s a mind set that many of us have. It is no different than the idea of capitalism vs. socialism. Self reliance is a great and powerful tool to have. I have a young child in school, and even with all the school shootings in the media, I would rather have access to firearms free of federal infringement, for me and my own, than “pretend” to live in a safe society that limits access to tools to defend oneself. Just my humble opinion. Last I checked their are already laws on the books to punish criminal activity. Truly yours, SKP.

    • One.. did you know if I wanted to call the NICS number to find out if the stranger who wants to buy my Raging Judge Magnum is a legal buyer.. it is a Felony.

      Don’t Require “the Call” decriminalize it.

      They don’t want the papers of the Felons, they want the tax papers of the legal buyers.

      The Felons only have to claim, immunity to self inremination to get out of penalties for llying on the gun document.

      And mandatory training is easy..
      The Union has since the beginning had the power to set training for the militia members.
      ALL the militia not just “organized”, but since the two groups the can’t make regulations for a gun keepers and or gun bearers, they simply have to train..
      EVERYONE.

    • Dear “Cisco Kid,”

      You have a right to your opinion, and a right to express it.

      And, we have a right to say…, “Nope. No thanks.”

      There will be no “vetting” laws beyond what is already a rather arbitrary and draconian “background check” with NICS (…borderline Constitutional, as it is). There will be no imposing such “vetting” on private sales– and if some nanny like yourself squeezes another hoops-law onto the books regarding that, there will be little to no compliance anyway.

      There will be no “mandatory training.” A robust community of firearms culture and a collective respect for human life and the responsible handling of firearms will continue to thrive across America, while enthusiastically promoting safe firearms handling amongst a free people… who choose it, and who will it unto themselves because it is the right thing to do. And, it’s fun. 🙂

      There will be no registrations, or taxes, or any number of more ridiculously useless and arbitrary flaming hoops to slowly whittle away a tangible bond between our free culture and right to firearms. That kind of decrepit rot by a thousand cuts might work in certain states like California– where nanny fear, prejudiced ignorance, and unfounded hysteria is hammer-conditioned into the populace (like hand tenderizing a veal cutlet)… a populace who believes that laws are some magical potion that steers the behavior of mice in a maze perpetually searching for the cheese. Free people in free states will simply blow people like you off.

      Let me say it again: Free people in free states will just blow you and your nonsense off. As in, “We MUST have MANDATORY blah blah” yeah whatever. You don’t get to control me or tell me how I can store a firearm in my own home– if my door is locked, that is all you need to know, and my Constitutionally protected guaranteed civil rights say your prying nanny nonsense stops right there. Me, and millions of other sane sensible people, we don’t give a good goddamn about how much you feel like obsessing about “smash and grab.” Frankly, we wish you would put your nanny efforts into tackling those obnoxious bass-booming subwoofers in cars that rattle the neighborhoods… as in, why don’t you find something constructive and useful to do with your meddling, intrusive, presumptuous, self-absorbed arrogance?

      All these “good ideas” you keep shouting… I want you to remember the following points, while you keep prattling on with your fascistic notions of puppeteering how others live: gun sales as as steady as ever (at least 20 million per year), 2A activists are more invested and active than you ignorant hysterics (and are far more likely to be single-issue voters), there are already about two firearms for every American adult in circulation, and despite all of the “a growing number of studies suggest!” propaganda from the same unilateral crank sources that fuel the noise behind your obnoxious ideas, American shooting culture is steadily growing across all demographics. In other words, you are just that Wah-Wah-Wah teacher in a Charlie Brown Peanuts cartoon.

      So, sound and sincere advice… give it a rest. Or not, because you are literally treading water in the middle of the ocean, gasping for life behind some goofy wishful idea that the United States will one day become as “enlightened” (read: foolishly delusional) as Australia or the U.K. with regard to guns and gun culture. And it will never happen; the only people who care about nanny control like your handy dandy list are people who are not involved with American gun culture. So, you’re imposing things that we just don’t think are useful or necessary, and it will not fly. We are a different people, with different values, and a demonstrably different situation. The firearms and the culture are in our DNA, and we put our money where our mouths are and walk the walk, being the most heavily armed civilian populace the world has ever known. You will never change that, because we will never let you. Ever. You can nanny, while we nanny-nanny-boo-boo.

      You will learn to live with it. It feels frustrating to stomp your feet and hold your breath and not get your way. But, take a nice calm inhale, go outside, walk around and see people smiling. The sky has not fallen. Life is good. Indeed, there are some bad people in this world, causing bad tragedies and needless suffering while using firearms (hint: we don’t like that, either!)… unfortunately, some people in a free society will abuse their civil liberties to cause mayhem and death. There is a justice system for that (which, by the way, is not perfect… so if you care to direct your passions and energies towards that, moar power to you…).

      But, things like this “common sense” list you presented… ? The correct, decent & polite response is: “Blow it out your ass.” Why? See it for what it is– more feeble attempts to control others simply because you dislike firearms. It’s not “for them,” it’s not “for the children,” it’s just for you and your dislike of firearms. And, seemingly, your dislike the people who shield and contribute to this glorious American firearms culture which irks you. That is not a good enough reason to let people like you do it, lemme tell ya… and so we will not. Not now, not ever.

      “Oh the madness!! The guns! The GUNS!” Not enough. Treading water in the ocean. You will never make a hundred million people comply to your nanny nonsense… somewhere in that dome of yours, the hamster on the wheel must take a break from time to time, and you must know this. You must, come on! Unless, of course, you are a Tru-Beleeberr and feed yourself a steady diet of Everytown/Moms/March/Bloomberg/Trace/”a growing number of studies suggest!” Harvard/Berkeley mono-prop rah-rah. Are you really that thick?

      Be safe. (Or… maybe you find something alarming enough to constitute an “extreme red threat protective flag” in something somebody has thought, said, or done here? It’s quite addictive… this controlling people stuff, especially when you can convince youself, “Deus vult!” God wills it! No? You just KNOW you’re RIGHT about this, hmm? Secret’s out… you’re not.) 🙂

    • So, the argument is “Here’s a bunch of laws which will help if people follow them.” Show me what that’ll get us? How you know? What the other results will be?

      Remind me … what fraction of the crimes committed using guns use guns acquired by the criminal legally?

      /Let’s have a policy discussion…
      For “balanced” policy discussion… what are the up- and down-sides…

      Lives:
      So how many “live saved” by people not shot. Vs. lives lost by people not defended. (Some fraction of 2.5 million.)

      Other Payoffs:
      I realizing meddling in people doing what they like is a good in itself for a lot of folks. Double-plus a payoff if yr meddling with wrongthinkers, Trumpians, Deplorables, or merely the not sufficiently aligned.

      So, balance that vs. the impact of these measures on non-criminals? (Pretending for a moment that meddling with even wrong thinking non-criminals is an actual cost … work with me here.) All impacts: direct costs, false positives, created crimes, lack of guns from the increased friction, 2nd order consequences from lack of guns like increased victimization rates, 2nd order consequences like selective enforcement, corruption, and so on.

      What else could we be doing:
      That’s a lot of time and attention, first on these shiny but ineffective policies. (Pardon me, “ineffective” if the notion is citizens’ health and autonomy. Effective, of course if the goal is “Everything not compulsory is forbidden.)

      What else could we do with the implementation resources? We have actual model programs and result stats for mental health interventions. How about we do that.

      Or, how many police hours to enforce this stuff would make how many “school resource officers.” Like the one who stopped a developing bit of violence just this week.

    • I have a sneaking suspicion that the Crisco Kid types with one hand while he does you-know-what with the other hand.

    • Brain dead. Please tell me what gun law could have prevented any of the last decades worth of shootings? Ya can’t can ya? That’s because there is none. Get your head out of your ass and think before ya write.

    • We need strict voting laws NOW.
      1) all voters must prove they are citizens of the US in order to vote.
      2). All voters must have a “voter specific”, state issued, picture ID,
      3)Felons wishing to vote must go through a case by case judicial review
      4). All voters must be proficient in English and pass a standardized federal test.
      5)all voters must take a pre-election exam showing proficiency on all candidates positions
      6)all voters must own real property (special co-ops of combined interest will be allowed. Does not have to be a primary residence)
      7)all voters must earn and pay taxes on a minimum of $50,000 per year
      8)no person shall have the right to vote if they’ve received public assistance in the previous 2 years prior to the election.
      9)raise the voting age to 21
      10)no person will ever have the right to vote if they’ve stolen their citizenship through an amnesty program, chain migration or has been whelped on US soil by illegal/criminal aliens.

      Only those with skin in the game who are contributing members of society should get to vote for candidates, who ostensibly will be determining where those tax dollars will eventually be spent. Those caught engaging in voter fraud will be tried under new legislation for the crime of “subverting national sovereignty” and the “willful destruction of our democratic process”. Each conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison. Everything here-in is reasonable and steeped in common sense.

      • Bro, what about:

        Interstate commerce: Unless you have legit need to travel between states you should be stopped at the border. All vehicles crossing state borders should be stopped and searched. This would stop the trade of illicit weapons, drugs, and human trafficking in one fell swoop. If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear.

        Free speech: Modern social media has blurred the lines between professional and amateur journalism. In order to prevent the spread of fake news any blog or posting viewable to the public must be vetted, and approved and content creators tested and licensed by the government.

    • Hey Cisco, let me see if l have this figured out. You are a member of the Democrat/socialist party. You are from California, Illinois or New York. You feel entitled to force your wishes on everyone else. I see you as a person with a nanny complex wanting all of us to do as you say. As stated in this post before… blow it out your ass. Leave the rest of us alone.

  4. Dr McBride should run for president he would have my vote. Most police are a day late , a bullet short and are in my humble opinion tyrannical .gun toting , authoritarian bullies. There should be a cop club for police that have ” I have a gun get on the ground or get a bullet complex ” power and the boys club does not fly with me. Watch any police videos on you tube lately ? Everyone should !! Not to say all police are like this . problem is many are. On the other hand many a person of the gun has been there when someone needed help and no police were there. Every home in Switzerland has an assault weapon. We are so far behind in human progessiveness compared to other countries. I wonder , will our children suffer the consequences of our backward politics in the years to come ? I would say most likely if we do not change this direction the Leftards , tyrants , and know it all politicians are trying to force upon us. What happened to making America great again Donald ? Did you lose the memo. Save our constitution , and our RIGHT TO DEFEND THIS GREAT NATION.

    • Richard, what is it with some of you guys? I can honestly say I know any anti-gun cops. And I know hundreds. Most are hunters. One guy I worked with (he’s currently an Lt. with a large local P.D.) recently opened a gun store on the side. I know others officers (prior and active) that work in gun stores on the side. Every one of the officers I know openly gives advice to citizens seeking information about firearms. I’ll say it again. Law enforcement and the armed citizen are not adversaries! We compliment each other!

      • One difficulty is that we know what we know and don’t know that with which we have had little exposure. I’ve lived in various places rural and urban across the US, and spent some time in a few other countries. Folks in various places have radically different views about guns; and, that then tends to inform the cops views in the respective communities.

        Where I grew up I would be astonished if the town cop looked at me twice while open-carrying in town at age 13. I would have wondered what was wrong with him.

        It’s a different thing out East. A NYC cop may very well know no one who owns a gun who is not a cop. Or, he has only a limited exposure to gun owners. In such a place a good majority of cops have an uneasy feeling about non-cops having guns; the idea of carrying them on city streets is abhorrent to them. Not all; by any means, but I suspect a simple majority.

        These cops enthusiastically enforce the gun laws on peaceable citizens who they find making a mistake. Google Shaneen Alan’s experience in NJ. Google NJ and NY for arrests of people found in possession of guns without a permit. These cops – a simple majority in the Won’t-Issue States – leave a bad taste in the mouths of gun-owners who have to live under their scourges.

        In the right-to-carry States there are fewer such cops with an attitude; but, there are a few. There are bound to be a few bad apples in any large barrel.

        The nation’s cops who support citizen-ownership ought to think about the damage some of their fellow officers are doing to the relationship between cops and gun-owners. I’ll grant that you – personally – don’t know any cops with a bad attitude toward citizens owning and carrying guns. But I’m sure you will admit that there must be a few such cops somewhere in other precincts – probably far from your home State.

        Somehow, you cops in the Red States have to do some out-reach to your fellow cops in Blue States. Not your top priority – that I understand. Nevertheless, none of us want the S to Hit the Fan. That won’t be good for anyone. The gun-controllers are urging legislators to tighten the gun-control screws. The gun-antagonistic cops in the Blue States are siding with the gun-controllers against their gun-owning civilians. You can imagine where this could lead; and the least of the problems might be slackening of support of cops by gun-owners. You Red-State cops can get the message across to your Blue-State cop colleagues more readily than those protected and served by the latter.

        • MarkPA, I understand where you’re coming from. However, I disagree. I’ve spent a bit of time in the NE. NYC, upstate, Connecticut, etc. Most of the citizens and cops I spoke with said, and I paraphrase, “Gun control doesn’t do any good. It’s a waste of time.”

      • How many top-20 big urban city cops do you know? Even in smaller cities, I know some who are all-in on the “only police” wagon and hold a ‘better than you’, ‘us vs them’ standpoint of their own superiority as supercitizens.

        • Uh, let me see; FBI, ATF, U.S. Marshalls (I was dual sworn when I was a member of the N. FL Violent Fugitive Task Force), FDLE, FHP, almost any county and city agency within any reasonable distance. Not to mention training I’ve attended with guys from places like Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, etc. Since Florida is the fourth most populous state in the union; is that urban enough for you? Oh, forgot to mention all the hurricanes I worked. Interacted with every alphabet soup agency you care to name.

          • Hey Paul, I also worked in the US Marshals Violent Crimes Task Force, Fugitive Group. Great bunch of guys and gals. Yea, there were members of ATF and FBI as well as members of most other agencies in the county, but the Marshals Service headed up the task force. I was assigned to work fugitives for a total of about 15 years, including my time with the task force. A lot of hours and overtime, much to the chagrin of my wife.

    • You hate the police because you only see the clips of police that the liberal media wants you to see. Honestly, check out Live PD some night, and see what most cops and most police transactions are like. Many of you cop haters will be pretty surprised. Note, the vast majority of people being put in jail, deserve to be there. You’ll see if you watch it.

      • Wow just wow. I’m conflicted between laughing at this stupidity or crying for humanity.

        • Do whatever you want. But please stop voting. The amount of times you voted for Hillary already hurt this country enough.

      • New Continental Army, you said a mouthful. I throw down the gauntlet. If any one out there thinks they can do it better, pin a badge to your shirt, strap on a duty belt, climb in a patrol car and go getcha’ some; or shut the fuck up!

        • Good point. If anyone out there thinks they can do so much better, whats stopping them? Go do it yourself and prove us wrong. Just like all the people who feel bad for everyone in prison. I say, “well ok then. We’ll just send all the inmates to live at your house.”

        • No? No challengers? You wussies. I didn’t think so. Armchair quarterbacks. You sit down and shut up. You’re no better than Cisco.

        • I have nothing but the utmost respect for peace officers. It is a difficult job no doubt to put your entire life on the line. Especially to protect and serve when so many in the public try to tarnish the very reputation of every peace officer for the actions or inactions of certain officers. That said to point to a television show as a source of information about the vast majority of how police interactions go down is just innacurate. Go on some ride alongs or join the auxiliary force to get a more accurate idea of what it is like to be a peace officer. Lastly I think you misunderstand my comment I think it’s stupid to point to one media source and call it liberal media just to turn and point to another main stream media outlet and claim it valid. People should go out and be involved learn and see with their own eyes.

        • CA is one of the forums establishment trolls. He posts seemingly pro 2nd amendment statements while vigorously defending the establishment and the status quo.

  5. I guess if he’s retired he doesn’t mind too much that the American Academy of Pediatrics just excommunicated him for heresy and public display of intelligence.

  6. It’s a simple concept: If you truly believe in freedom, you must support the rights of every citizen. Even if you don’t like how they exercise those rights.

  7. An M.D. with some common sense. Or, do they have to be retired before being allowed to publicly speak the truth ?

  8. TMIMC, thanks. The things I like to remember are not the men I arrested, but those I saved. Once, a couple of days after Christmas, I responded to a signal 4. Guy had crossed the center line and hit the biggest pine like he had done it on purpose. When I got there his kids boxes from their presents were still in the bed of the truck. He was entrapped. Fire Rescue on the way with the “Jaws of Life.” The two paramedics on the scene said, “He’s circling the drain!” You can imagine what that meant. I pulled out my ASP baton and said, “Cover his face!” I broke out the driver’s side window, lost my duty gear and climed in. Cut the seatbelt with my Spyderco. Got that man out and sent him on his way. FHP trooper that worked the scene told me a couple of weeks later that the man survived. Crash was medically related. Diabetes, I think. Never met the man after. But, I hope he’s with his children. That’s not the only story I can tell. And that’s the kind of story most cops would like to tell. So you guys that think we’re all badge heavy? What if it was your spouse, child, mother, father, mother- in-law (well, maybe not mother-in-law), but you know what I mean, what would you like for me (us) to do?

    • Well I’ll be, you do have a sense of humor after all. The mother in law joke was funny. But asking me what I’d like a cop to do was funnier..Sharing your donuts would be nice. ….. Paul you could start a fifteen day reply with a ,what would you like me(us) to do?

      • One time at band camp…..

        You had them cover his face while you broke the driver’s side window… if they could cover his face why did you have to break a window? For dramatic effect? Then you climbed in, over him? I’m sure someone circling the drain appreciated having a 200+ lb armchair hero clamber on top of him… I mean talk about chest compressions….

        I’m not saying this didn’t happen, in your mind, while drunk, sitting on a couch, playing PS3.

        • The passenger side window was broken in the crash and the victim was slumped over on the seat away from me. It was a Ford Ranger pick up with a bench seat. The paramedics had access to his upper torso, and had tried to extract him, but because of the seat belt and his feet being entangled with the clutch and brake pedals, they couldn’t pull him out. (Neither door would open due to the crash.) They couldn’t climb in because they each weighed 200+ lbs. I was about 170 at that time and in good shape. I have to admit though, I’ve gotten a little lazy since I retired four years ago. Why would you doubt the truth of my story? It’s not unique. First responders do that kind of thing everywhere, everyday.

          By the way; what’s PS3?

      • Yeah, I have a sense of humor. Ironicatbest, except for our disagreement on the ethical harvest of game and fish, I am with you 100% on almost everything you say. If I need the government for anything (Yeah, right!) I’ll give them a call. The government can never have my firearms. Not one. Leave me alone. If you do, I won’t bother you. That goes for any other innocent person in my presence. Or, anyone I care about, present, or otherwise. Fuck with me, that innocent person, or anyone I care about and you’re going to be fucked back with. Really, really bad.

        Truce?

  9. Hopefully this author respected individual liberties enough to support vaccine choice for his pediatric patients.

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