The Minneapolis police officer who put his knee on George Floyd’s neck for almost ten minutes deserves the scorn and legal jeopardy in which he now finds himself. He has become a pariah for good reason. In the coming months, he and the others responsible for Mr. Floyd’s death will face face a jury of their peers.
Sadly, a whole lot of folks have used the American tragedy of Mr. Floyd’s death as an excuse to riot, loot, and commit arson.
I’m told that a lot of people of color look upon gun owners as racists. That’s simply not true, no more so than the equally offensive and bigoted beliefs that suggest all blacks are criminals or all Muslims are terrorists.
As gun owners, we remain very sensitive to police misconduct for good reason. Police who abuse one person’s rights will abuse other peoples’ rights as well. Not only is abusing the civil rights of our fellow Americans morally (and often legally) wrong, but we don’t want to become the victims of police misconduct either. And there are plenty of stories of cops abusing gun owners’ rights.
Take, for instance, Roosevelt Twyne (above). Cops in New Jersey pulled him over a block from his residence for having tinted windows.
Fully licensed and in uniform at the time from his job as an armed Brinks truck driver, the cops nevertheless arrested him for illegal transportation of a handgun and possession of hollow-point bullets (yes, that’s illegal in New Jersey).
Cops charged him for the ammunition offense even though the Hornady Critical Defense ammunition Twyne carried were specifically mentioned by NJ State Police as being legal in the state.
“I was simply a block away from getting home after work,” Twyne told Newsweek. “I never thought I would be arrested, charged and have my life turned upside down over New Jersey’s convoluted gun laws, especially when I was a fully licensed, trained security officer.”
It took nationwide publicity and pressure from gun rights groups, as well as from local community leaders before prosecutors finally dropped the charges.
Of course, nothing happened to the officers who ran roughshod over Mr. Twyne’s civil rights. Or the prosecutor who initially sought to imprison Mr. Twyne over the legally owned and possessed handgun.
Even when a gun owner isn’t involved, we call out misconduct when we see it. We get riled up about a bad cop’s knee on George Floyd’s neck because we don’t want that same cocky cop’s knee on our necks either.
Gun people want everyone’s rights respected and protected. That’s how the rule of law works. Without it, we have anarchy.
And if you need a refresher in what anarchy looks like, one need look no further than Minneapolis or Portland in recent weeks.
