As his air quotes indicate, NRA gun guru Dom Raso doesn’t have much time for people who bemoan “the build-up of law enforcement.” He prefers to call police militarization “the evolution of a relationship between military and law enforcement.” Raso reckons people uncomfortable with these auto-wielding kissing cousins are paranoid. The recent Boston bombing is proof enough that military and law enforcement need to be closerthanthis. Of the disarmed populace sheltering in place during the resulting martial law . . .
Raso makes no mention. Nor the tens of thousands of unnecessary no-knock raids by militarized cops, all of which erode our liberty, some of which go disastrously wrong. Raso’s buff BFF – New Jersey S.W.A.T. Officer Jerry – agrees that police militarization ain’t no big thing. Cops emerging from MRAPs wearing flak jackets hurling flash bangs make perfect sense given the “projected way” terrorists would work over here.
As first responders, law enforcement “needs the ability to handle any size attack from any adversary.” Up to and including a Red Dawn invasion, presumably. Dom nods, so it’s no surprise that he says “it’s no surprise that our two organizations look and feel the same.” From there the logic (such as it is) falls down the rabbit hole.
“The more secure we make our country the less law enforcement is going to have to look like me when I go to hit a target overseas,” Raso opines, implying that increasing the number of citizens exercising their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms will somehow counter and reverse decades of police militarization.
Three words: War on Drugs.
Anyway, in case the “militarization is our fault for not arming enough civilians” argument fails the smell test – and it does – Jerry stops making sense altogether.
At a time when our country is threatened with so many obstacles, our politicians are pushing for the strictest gun laws ever, the government needs to understand that this is a time where Americans need to feel safe by protecting themselves. It is not a time when citizens should fear the police turning into a well-trained or perceived as storm troopers who are trying to take their guns away.
Translation: The government should support armed self-defense. To make that happen, the public should support the people in charge of enforcing the “strictest gun laws ever” and let them train and equip themselves like soldiers. “The more we work like a team,” Raso concludes, “the better off we’re all going to be.” Or not.