Unarmed Policing

[Tez3]

Did we give up the right to bear arms or is this based on American perceptions? People only see the surface of what happens here and base what they think happens here on what they know of their own country. It seems strange that non Brits feel free to post that we, the Brits, are less than them just because of this gun issue. Whats right for you is right for you, it doesn't make it right for us.
It seems strange that the police are criticised for not carrying weapons when the article quite plainly states that the police shot and killed a gunman! Riots are riots, they don't need people coming out shooting all and sundry just because they can. Would someone standing with a shotgun have saved his shop from being looted or would the mob have attacked him regardless? It's all very well criticising events thousands of miles away based on values that are yours but not ours.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Did we give up the right to bear arms or is this based on American perceptions? .

Is this a trick question...of course you gave up the right because American perceptions are NEVER wrong.... or at least that is our perception of things Global

 

[elder999]

Did we give up the right to bear arms or is this based on American perceptions?

What other kind of perception would you expect me, as an American, to have, Irene? :lol:

People only see the surface of what happens here and base what they think happens here on what they know of their own country. It seems strange that non Brits feel free to post that we, the Brits, are less than them just because of this gun issue. Whats right for you is right for you, it doesn't make it right for us

Where did I post that Brits are less than we are? I posted an article, and a quote from an article-I really had read it in my hard copy of Americn Rifleman the night before, and I was going to make it a separate thread elsewhere, but it seemed appropriate here in Mark's thread.

It likewise seems strange to me that so many Brits and Australians feel free to post that we, the Americans, should give up our guns.What's right for you is right for you; it doesn't make it right for us.:lol:

I said as much when I pointed out what I see as the inevitability of all your police being armed, though not necessarily in our lifetimes.

 

[Tez3]

What other kind of perception would you expect me, as an American, to have, Irene? :lol:



Where did I post that Brits are less than we are? I posted an article, and a quote from an article-I really had read it in my hard copy of Americn Rifleman the night before, and I was going to make it a separate thread elsewhere, but it seemed appropriate here in Mark's thread.

It likewise seems strange to me that so many Brits and Australians feel free to post that we, the Americans, should give up our guns.What's right for you is right for you; it doesn't make it right for us.:lol:

I said as much when I pointed out what I see as the inevitability of all your police being armed, though not necessarily in our lifetimes.

And it was the article I was arguing against....

You will find I have never in all the time I've been on here ever posted anything about guns in America, I've never said once that you should give up your guns , for one thing it's none of my business and another is that I don't think about it or actualy care what you do with your guns or not. Give them up or keep them, it's of no interest to me.
will our police be armed eventually, probably no more than they are now and they are armed probably more than you think they are.

 

[aedrasteia]

Here in the US, it's a lot more complicated because our policing there's a subtle distinction between "serve the public" here and "policing by consent" in Britain, and I think it goes down to the cultural roots in each nation.

cultural/social anthropologist here sighs w/relief, bows w/respect and thanks jks greatly!

our cultural history is often very inconvenient, but explains almost everything that puzzells us about ourselves
and others

with respect

 

[geezer]

cultural/social anthropologist here sighs w/relief, bows w/respect and thanks jks greatly!

our cultural history is often very inconvenient, but explains almost everything that puzzells us about ourselves
and others

with respect

Yep. And here's another cultural observation gleaned from my older brother who's an Oxford and Ivy educated western redneck elitist liberal Obama supporting gun nut (owns over a hundred of the damn things) and a hunter to boot. People are complicated and all generalizations about a nations culture are probably as wrong as they are right.

Now I don't know squat about British culture. I've only been over there once when I was a kid. My family loved to travel abroad, but being downwardly mobile, I can't afford to travel like that. Still, as I mentioned, my brother went to grad school in England, and traveled a good deal on the continent. He also made some friends whose fairly well-to-do families enjoyed hunting and shooting sports like trap and skeet. He was surprised to find that sports like hunting and shooting tend to be elite in Europe while they are the domain of the common folk over here. Historically, in England and most of the rest of Europe, game belonged to the lord of the manor, and hunting was for the aristocracy. Guns, of course, were weapons for the armies of monarchs and toys for the aristocracy. Think of fox hunting for example. Over here, by contrast, guns were how the common frontiersman fed his family and protected himself. Think Davey Crockett. Also, guns were useful in taking land from Elder's ancestors. So for us guns represent or pioneer history, freedom, liberty, and sticking it to the man. Or being sure that he doesn't stick it to us. And if you gotta cling to your guns and religion, personally, most find guns a lot more dependable, and more fun too (I always fell asleep in church, but never when out shooting!).

Of course, all this is a gross simplification. Both the UK and the US are tremendously diverse nations. Still, it sheds a bit of light on our differing attitudes towards guns. How this relates to the OP, I'm not sure. But where I live, pretty much anybody except convicted felons can carry firearms openly or concealed without any training or license. And with an armed populace, you pretty much have to have armed police.

 

[Tez3]

Yep. And here's another cultural observation gleaned from my older brother who's an Oxford and Ivy educated western redneck elitist liberal Obama supporting gun nut (owns over a hundred of the damn things) and a hunter to boot. People are complicated and all generalizations about a nations culture are probably as wrong as they are right.

Now I don't know squat about British culture. I've only been over there once when I was a kid. My family loved to travel abroad, but being downwardly mobile, I can't afford to travel like that. Still, as I mentioned, my brother went to grad school in England, and traveled a good deal on the continent. He also made some friends whose fairly well-to-do families enjoyed hunting and shooting sports like trap and skeet. He was surprised to find that sports like hunting and shooting tend to be elite in Europe while they are the domain of the common folk over here. Historically, in England and most of the rest of Europe, game belonged to the lord of the manor, and hunting was for the aristocracy. Guns, of course, were weapons for the armies of monarchs and toys for the aristocracy. Think of fox hunting for example. Over here, by contrast, guns were how the common frontiersman fed his family and protected himself. Think Davey Crockett. Also, guns were useful in taking land from Elder's ancestors. So for us guns represent or pioneer history, freedom, liberty, and sticking it to the man. Or being sure that he doesn't stick it to us. And if you gotta cling to your guns and religion, personally, most find guns a lot more dependable, and more fun too (I always fell asleep in church, but never when out shooting!).

Of course, all this is a gross simplification. Both the UK and the US are tremendously diverse nations. Still, it sheds a bit of light on our differing attitudes towards guns. How this relates to the OP, I'm not sure. But where I live, pretty much anybody except convicted felons can carry firearms openly or concealed without any training or license. And with an armed populace, you pretty much have to have armed police.

A perceptive post! Guns indeed are more for the upper classes and even if not so much now they are certainly for country people rather than 'townies'.