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Why New York Cops Don’t Deserve a SAFE Act Carve-Out

Robert Farago - comments No comments

 New York City cops on the job

“A former police officer, accused of killing two people during a robbery at an east Tennessee pharmacy, gunned down his victims after they complied with his demands for painkillers,” the AP reports. “The victims had just given Jason Bryan Holt several bottles of oxycodone when he began the killing at the Down Home Pharmacy in the community of Bean Station, said Grainger County District Attorney Jimmy Dunn. ‘There was no confrontation,’ Dunn said. ‘He just shot them.'” I bring this story to your attention  because New York legislators are set to create a “carve-out” for ex-cops that would exempt them from the Empire State’s SAFE Act prohibition against “assault rifles” and “high-capacity” magazines. And that’s just wrong. But let me be clear . . .

I believe police are, as a group, more likely to commit a firearms-related crime than the general population. Day after day, I read story after story about cops gone bad, from the above story of a double homicide to today’s latimes.com tale of SWAT and SIS team members selling department-sourced guns off the books.

I have no statistical evidence to back-up the suggestion that ex-cops are more likely to enable or create “gun violence” than any other group of civilians. In the same sense that there’s no evidence that ex-cops are any more law-abiding than their fellow citizens.

What difference does it make? United States citizens are innocent until proven guilty. All of them have a natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. So if ex-cops want to own a dozen or more modern sporting rifles in the Empire State, why not? If they want umpteen magazines that can hold 10, 20, 30 or 100 rounds, sure.

Just don’t tell me that they have any special right to do so. Because they don’t. Again, anyone who supports a “carve-out” for cops that allows them to exercise their gun rights while denying fellow citizens those same rights is supporting tyranny. The gun grabbers are OK with that, but The People of the Gun most decidedly are not.

Nor will they ever be.

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Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “Why New York Cops Don’t Deserve a SAFE Act Carve-Out”

  1. Giving “special” gun rights to cops and ex-cops in just a cynical form of bribery, so that they will be good robots and follow orders. When cops complain that their rights are being infringed, the politicians respond by giving them their rights back and using the police to take away ours.

    Cops are for sale, and cheaply at that, when they can be bribed by “giving” them their own Constitutional rights and telling them to shut up, but that’s what just happened in NY.

    The least that the NYPD can do is to post a price list so we can all have an equal chance to buy a cop. Serpico would agree.

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  2. I don’t like the SAFE act or anything remotely similar. That said, if you are going to make an argument for special privs for cops while on duty, that is one thing. But off duty or ex cops, they should follow the same laws as the rest.

    Don’t like it? Then don’t make stupid restrictive laws.

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  3. its important to remember that it was not the cops that asked for this law, in fact, most sheriffs in the state are standing against it and for the rights of the citizens of the state. this law was pushed forth by politicians with an agenda, and is being challenged in the courts. by some of the commentary, it seems that people are straying from the root of the problem. if we are not united in the fight against this, it will be lost. stay focused.

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  4. I’m not comfortable with a blanket assertion that LEOs are more likely to commit a gun crime than the general populace without some data backing it up. Absent any data, I call BS on the assertion that the police are more likely to commit a firearms related crime.

    I suspect it’s a case of dog-bites-man is not a story, but man-bites-dog is a story. There are certainly people who become police officers because they enjoy the power. In the military, I served with officers and NCOs who were career military for similar reasons. But everyone knew who those guys were, and most of us despised them. The media doesn’t like the military, and they don’t seem to like cops either. I’m never surprised to see them go out of their way to paint either in a bad light.

    I think there is an argument to be made that there are civil liberties issues with exempting favored classes from laws. In the case of gun control laws, those favored classes are politicians and police. Let’s have that discussion, rather than make unsupported blanket assertions.

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  5. File criminal charges…. This wasn’t an inadvertence, this was an outright preconceived intent to commit perjury by an anti-gun zealot that deserves to be brought to justice and it will probably come out that the true gestapo of NYC was behind this entire plan to commit perjury……
    So to the AG of Florida (she’s a Democon) please do your duty or to any person in Florida that can afford it, please file a “writ of mandamus” forcing the AG to do her job….

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  6. I went to school in a small rural Midwest township, and the two biggest
    bullies in school, in my class, became police officers in our township.
    They became the “us” and everyone not a cop, was “them.” The two who
    were known bullies, from K-12, were granted the police power to kill us.
    It took 10 years, and several reprimands for excessive force before both
    of them were relieved of their badges. This was before police dash-cams.
    At our last HS reunion, I heard one of them is serving 10-20, convicted
    of aggravated assault with a gun. Go figure?

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  7. Honestly, I have to say between the review and the comments, this has been very informative and hilarious! I’m mainly considering buying a Deagle mainly for the fact it is the only hand gun I’ve picked up that actually fit in my hand. Even my cousins 1911 feels a tad bit small, and hearing of the ease of switching out for different ammunition makes me like it that much more.

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  8. You can’t really outlaw stupid, but we certainly should start prosecuting anyone in government office who endeavors to violate The Bill of Rights!

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  9. I once got “attacked” by a pit bull who jumped into my car when I opened the door ( I obviously didn’t see him before I did so), and wrestled with me for many, many minutes before i could finally shove him outside. He was amazingly strong. I was lucky to get away with the severe licking I received, and being whacked by his wagging tail. I had to laugh afterwards. Two other pit bulls who jumped close by my head over a 6′ high fence (there were warning signs) were less amusing. I would have felt safer walking through a field of land mines.

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  10. It doesn’t appear to me that he needed any other help at all. Perfect response. I hope the thug is as dead as he appears.

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  11. The news artcle I read said that when the proposal was made, theplace erupted into one of those screaming cussing exchanges for which the Texas legislature is so well known. This indicates that not the whole group of no goods was for it.

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  12. If you want the number one sold competition rifle at Camp Perry, one should go to Rock River Arms Inc. They have two models of DCM/NRA approved match rifles available. One with the standard fixed A-2 Carry Handle and one with the DCM Competition approved removable carry handle. Both are 100% legal competition rifles ready to go out of the box. The good thing about the removable sight model is if a guy wanted to remove the sight and put a scope on the rifle in the off season he could and then remount the Carry Handle for competition. They also run Competition & Shooter Specials on thier complete line of rifles each year at the Camp Perry National Match in Ohio. And also parts! One can not beat the deal there. They do it to promote the shooting sport and the youth programs as well. They usually sell several hundred of the NM Rifles while they are there each year for the couple of weeks of rifle competition. It is also a great place to go compare NM Rifles since Armalite, DPMS, Fulton Armory and many other manufacturers and providers are there. Plus there are other vendors like Springfield Armory and M&A Parts, and others who run their own Camp Perry Stores on Shooter’s Row as the previous ones mentioned. Also the DCM Store is there that sells M-1 Garands, 1903s, Kimber 22 Match Rifles, and other military rifles. If you have not been there you need to go! Check the website but I think Pistol week Starts the last of July followed by Rifle Competitions. Be sure to call the area in advance for Hotel and Motel Rooms.

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  13. Really not surprising another mexican would want to set up elite rules for the elite class of politicians. Standard MOP in taco land. Of course he’s afraid. After all, the stats show that minorities kill more minorities than white Americans do! And it’s because that is the standard MOP in their cultures that when they do make office, they want to ensure that they live, no matter how corrupt and who they hurt. Time to clean house and dump the mexicans from office. As for the mexican communities, they can be dealt with the same way. Adhere by American laws, learn English and make it mandatory except in their homes or face expulsion if they want to continue living here. This is the US, not taco land. As for their “minority” status. It’s long past due that with exception of Native Americans, every minority category is officially eliminated and all programs, laws and services based on such status is terminated!

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  14. The best reason for voter induced term limits I’ve heard yet. I don’t like the idea of it being Constitutionally mandated. The last thing this country needs is a large group of corrupt lame ducks running around loose for their last mandated term.

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  15. Actually, if I had to guess, I think the news was playing to the “patriotism” of the population, similar to Combat and GIJoe for us growing up. Asian countries are extremely nationalistic… ten years ago, if you brought a Japanese car into Seoul, it would probably get torched within a day.

    Whether or not the M99 gets used for antipersonnel, China’s done such a good job of disarming the entire population, it really doesn’t matter. Aside from the very remote regions of the country (and the Canton area in the hands of the mafias) firearms in civilian hands no longer exist… but there’s plenty of fireworks everywhere…

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  16. What’s interesting and never mentioned about law enforcement is they have no “duty to act” This has been proven by case law several times in recent years. This means if the proverbial bad guys kicks your door in and attempts to harm you, and you call the law and they for some reason take 45 minutes to show, you have no legal recourse because they took their sweet time getting there. Why, because they have no mandate to protect the individual. The firearms they carry are not for “our” protection, it is for the leo’s self protection. If you happen to be in the area at the time, well, you get defacto protection. That “serve and protect” slogan on the side of the car is just feel good words for the general public.
    They deserve no special treatment, no special rights. I served with distinction in the Marine Corps, carried hundreds of rounds in combat, used 30rd magazines on a daily basis and am still a productive member of society after having retired from my Corps, yet I can’t be trusted with 30 rds or even 10 rds in my magazines . I hazard to guess that the firearms training in the military is far and away superior to any that can be had in a law enforcement agency. To illustrate the point, I can recall no one ever having shot their own car in a training evolution, unlike one of the local cops in this area. The safe act is a sham, a direct assualt on our constitution and RIGHTS.
    That all being said, at least in this area, the leo’s are generally a nice group of people. They do deserve a certain degree of respect, but only so far as to the degree they show. I subscribe to the ” be nice to them, and they will be nice to you.” It does work. I only demand one thing from the leo’s, know your job better than I do.

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  17. “Genocide throughout history has only been successful following disarmament, thus removing the ability to fight on remotely equal terms and so have any means of self-defense.”

    [Citation needed]

    History only shows that most genocides come from the guns of an occupying group, not that genocide naturally follows from disarmament. Or that disarmament is a necessary condition of genocide–TONS of genocides and ethnic cleansings in areas awash with guns and militants.

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  18. Sadly, no matter what ignorant laws get passed, these sorts of things will continue. You can’t ban anything with the possibility to be dangerous and expect that to fix a broken society.

    Maybe a public hanging, drawing, and quartering of the would-be bomber would be a good start. Even that might not accomplish anything though.

    The problem is, these kids have grown up in a world where there are no sacred values other than selfishness and pursuit of material comfort. They get disillusioned, imbibe some bad (but consistent with their experience) philosophy from some modern death metal music or whatever, and decide that killing a bunch of people at school would be a suitably nihilistic way to end it all. The only way to fix that is to give kids an idea of purpose in life -something which has been considered passé and discouraged since the ’60s or so, when our society seems to have collectively decided that “brave new world” was far preferable to religion, morality, family life, tradition, and patriotism. I predict that as time goes on, these events will become more frequent -which of course necessitates all the more for the rest of us to have arms, in order to dissuade and stop these sorts of things.

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  19. “keeping the option open, AT LEAST FOR NOW” and “we should START with the main threat”. Kind of tells you what this evil libtard is thinking, huh.

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  20. See a lot of badge lickers here saying the
    usual silliness….as with many folks
    I know that nonsense ends after a few
    encounters with “officer friendly”
    (who NEVER existed). The SAFE act is
    an insult to American citizens
    on it s face with that little added
    insult that the badged thugs get a pass,
    to let us serfs know our place. LEO’s are
    not “civilians” after all you know.

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