Re: Berwyn Heights mayor denounces police tactics

Someone wrote, “Are you somehow oddly suggesting that if the Mayor and his mother-in-law had possessed guns, the situation would have gone better? “

Knowing that some people might jump to that conclusion, I wrote “The point of the argument last year was whether people needed guns to defend themselves. Mike thought that his very select and very, very well trained SWAT teams would be all the protection innocent civilians would need. I chose not to trust Mike's SWAT teams. Select them as carefully as you want and they will still be human beings who make mistakes.”

I thought that would be enough to show that what we were talking about was what people needed to defend themselves. I believe in the Second Amendment and therefore believe in owning guns for self defense. Mike thought otherwise. He thought SWAT teams would be enough. So no, I don’t think the situation would have gone better if the Mayor had produced a gun. That wasn’t what we were debating. The subject is SWAT teams in lieu of guns for self-defense. If SWAT teams are adequate protection for civilians then they won’t need guns, Mike argued. But here is a SWAT team in action.

This person went on, “Perhaps what would have helped was a much better-trained, disciplined SWAT team -- which likely would be possible if they weren't half-way expecting any individual they have to deal with to be armed.”

Ah, so you are weighing in on Mike’s side. You are assuming it is possible to get rid of all guns without exception. For if one Seung Cho might be out there with a gun he purchased from the Russian Mafia, then the SWAT teams are still going to have chips on their shoulders. I mean, look at Mike. One Cho killing 32 people makes him want to take away every gun in the United States, except those owned by SWAT. So using Mike’s philosophy, the potential existence of a Cho, would cause his SWAT teams to behave the same way they did while invading the Mayor’s house.

And why did they kill the Mayor’s dogs? They were perhaps assuming the Mayor, being a drug dealer, had pit bulls. Maybe you need to go a little further and get rid of all protective-type dogs as well. Then the highly well-trained SWAT teams won’t imagine they see pit-bulls when they see Labrador Retrievers.

Lawrence Helm