10 police officers shot in Baton Rouge, Louisanna

suicide_circus wrote: »

Is there no burgalry in America or something?

The rate of burglary in the US is about equivalent to the rate in the UK, last I checked. The difference is the 'homeowner present' rate, which is less than half. Most US burglaries happen in the day, when the home is more likely to be empty, or at least the burglar can identify that the house is empty, since a non-empty house can result in death by homeowner. Ironically, this means that it's safer for everyone since there's less likelihood of a chance encounter.

RasTa wrote: »

Seems reasonable.

Erm.. No.

The full report: "We are sending a letter to Gov. Kasich requesting assistance from him. He could very easily do some kind of executive order or something -- I don't care if it's constitutional or not at this point," Stephen Loomis, president of Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, told CNN. "They can fight about it after the RNC or they can lift it after the RNC, but I want him to absolutely outlaw open-carry in Cuyahoga County until this RNC is over."

He said in that statement that he doesn't care if the prohibition is Constitutional or not, and that it can be sorted out later. Think about that for a minute. You get police officers not caring if something is Constitutional as long as it helps? What if he didn't care if a search of a house was Constitutional? A wire tap? Moving peaceful protestors. An arrest. Any other parts of a Constitution that it's 'reasonable' for police to ignore? Disgraceful statement.

The response from the Governor was "The Ohio Governor does not have the power to suspend the Federal or State Constitutions", and good for him.

Hogwash, The internet is full of thousands upon thousands or mass shootings in the USA. And Incidently it's not Joe public firing back. Going to a gun range on Saturday does not turn you into dirty harry. Please present any evidence that Joe public has any meaningful impact on mass shootings in the states to warrant being armed. On the nice end having guns did not stop people getting killed did it.

You're asking to prove a negative. An armed bystander isn't typically going to wait until a shooting reaches "mass killing" statistics before shooting back. He'll do it immediately, at which point, the tally stops. Sure, there are occasional odd situations like New Life Church where the guy is shot after having completed a sufficient amount of kiling to trigger the mass shooting statistic. On the other hand, when many of these mass shootings happen where folks are unarmed by law or policy, then there are no armed bystanders to do anything, so you get a mass killing which was not stopped by Joe Public. You are also ignoring the damage limitation parts of it, such as the Tenessee shooter driven off by (unauthorised) armed military personnel, students suppressing the clock tower shooter, or the shopper who engaged the Trolley Square Mall shooter. In no case did they stop the shooter, but they did reduce the kiling by giving him something to think about.

What we do know is:
The number of mass killings per year has shot up over the last 30 years. https://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_1920w/Boston/2011-2020/2015/12/04/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/1%20-%20Screen%20Shot%202015-12-04%20at%2010.15.10%20AM-9918.png .The percentage of people with guns has gone down over the last 30 years. The number of firearms in circulation has gone up, but nowhere near as much as the number of mass killings. There is another factor at play not just a simplistic 'meh, guns are bad.' Most states went from "cannot carry concealed" to "Carry concealed" over the last 30 years, it has not increased or decreased crime on the macro level. We do know, courtesy of the CDC-sponsored report after newtown, that on the micro level, individuals who defend themselves with firearms are more likely to escape uninjured than those who do not.