Over-reaction
Having the right to keep and bear arms does not mean you can shoot people who annoy you.
That goes for NYPD, as well.
Granted, people can get very annoying. In most parts of the world, shooting them would be seen as an extreme over-reaction.
But, the United States is an extreme place. Here's an example:
To date, the number of US casualties in Iraq since the war began is 2886. The number of Iraqis killed is much higher, probably over 50,000. But we're not sure. After all: "We don't do body counts".
According to the CDC, the number of firearm-related deaths in the US in 2002 was 30,242. The number of people in the US who have been killed by gunfire since March 19th, 2003 (when the Iraq War began) is speculative, since we apparently don't do body counts in this country either. But, if we assume a steady average rate of 30,000 a year, it will be about 82,500 this month, give or take a few thousand.
I'm not going to insult your intellegence by suggesting that it is safer to live in a war zone than the USA. However, there are places in this country that are a lot like a war zone. You probably don't live in one of those places, or maybe you do, but you have learned to keep your head down and stay close to cover. You probably know better than to throw eggs at passing SUVs, too.
How about tomatoes? Can we throw tomatoes?
That goes for NYPD, as well.
Granted, people can get very annoying. In most parts of the world, shooting them would be seen as an extreme over-reaction.
But, the United States is an extreme place. Here's an example:
To date, the number of US casualties in Iraq since the war began is 2886. The number of Iraqis killed is much higher, probably over 50,000. But we're not sure. After all: "We don't do body counts".
According to the CDC, the number of firearm-related deaths in the US in 2002 was 30,242. The number of people in the US who have been killed by gunfire since March 19th, 2003 (when the Iraq War began) is speculative, since we apparently don't do body counts in this country either. But, if we assume a steady average rate of 30,000 a year, it will be about 82,500 this month, give or take a few thousand.
I'm not going to insult your intellegence by suggesting that it is safer to live in a war zone than the USA. However, there are places in this country that are a lot like a war zone. You probably don't live in one of those places, or maybe you do, but you have learned to keep your head down and stay close to cover. You probably know better than to throw eggs at passing SUVs, too.
How about tomatoes? Can we throw tomatoes?
posted by M. B. Dezotell at 7:33 AM
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