Now to all of you senior members who I offended in my earlier posts, especially MontyB and Seno, my apologies. I actually welcome dissent in the arena of ideas and opinions, I was just a bit taken aback when told to back up my personal experience and observation as a law enforcement officer with facts and figures, so instead I demonstrated my ability to make a jackass of myself.
...and in doing so you proved to us you are a cop. Welcome aboard. I guess.
Try as I might I could not find any statistical data regarding the amount of crime deterred by armed citizens. These kind of items are usually found in the local press where they occurred. There doesn't appear to be a database that collects these particular statistics.
You
could have found some data by contacting the JPFO and GOA. If you had tried them, two fine law-abiding American Civil Rights organizations, you would have found
something. But you didn't. You know how I know?
http://gunowners.org/fs0404.htm
And if that isn't enough, all you have to do is call the GOA and ask for Larry Pratt. He'll be more than glad to help you. The data is there. May not have every piece that you want, but it is there.
As to direct experience as a LEO.
Then your experience should verify that cops rarely STOP crime acts that are being committed, instead you clean up what's left and look for the perp. Restraining orders are only paper. Not some majical "Superman" that will force perps to obey or make bullets bounce away. Sadly I know too many cops that actually believe that. Point the truth out to them and they'll agree, only to say "but it'll make the penalty much harsher". Pardon me, but
F "harsh penalties". When you're dead or your wife is dead (or perhaps both?) or worse, disabled, what good is that "restraining order"? None whatsoever. "Oh, but they're going to prison a lot longer than before, though!" What value is sending someone to prison for murdering you, when you should have killed that SOB from the get-go? Make it easier for the cops? Oh wah.
Listen, I have a permanent restraining order issued against a man and he violated it twice. What did the cops do? Visualize a man performing self-gratuitous sex on himself and you'll get the idea. If I had a gun I would have killed him. And the cops know that, which is why I'm not allowed guns (strange to hear, especially in America, but quite true). And when I vowed that I'll use whatever weapon I can get my hands on, to defend myself
from a man I have a permanent restraining order against, they threatened to arrest me.
So, do criminals have rights? Yeah, like anyone else. Should they have access to guns? If they want them, they'll find them. So who cares? If they break the law with one, hopefully there'll be enough armed people to set that criminal straight.
Envision a Burger King hold up. I'm recalling one out of California about 12 years back. Black wanna-be-a gangsta walks into a BK and tries an armed robbery. Didn't get enough money and he started shooting everyone, and he ended up killing about 10-12 people. If just ONE of those victims had a gun, he might have killed one or two people before meeting the Good Lord Jesus Himself.
