What's Your Opinion? Firearms or Not?

[CaptainK]

You could have another bank of batteries. Just for that use.

And you hook up your gizmo electric zapper. And hit the pirate/terrorist. And give that person a jolt they will not forget?

Might just work?

[BC Mike]

Here is a novel concept. If we spent as much time thinking of intelligent ways of avoiding confrontation as do about inventing guns, we might be further ahead.
Tasars have killed some people. Not sure if they are the same as the one being discussed. With a longer handle they are used to move cows along at the auction house.
Michael

[CaptainK]

Yeah Michael.

A cattle prod would really work. And like you said. They are used to make the cows, move along during auctions, etc.

Actually, there have been cases about people getting killed from tazers, by the police here in the U.S. . And some people are wondering if they should ban police from using them?

The kind of tazers the police use. Looks like a handgun. And holstered like a hnadgun. But configured slighty different. Of course, the front of the tazer gun has these two slits. Were the two prongs get fired out of the gun at. And then the prongs get fired out. Trailed behind the prongs are very thin wires.

And the prongs make contact with the target. And WHAM. down he/she goes. And they slap on the handcuffs. Read them their rights. And haul them to the police car. And off to the police station.

Michael, I'm just messin around. Kinda makes light of the absurdity of the whole thing.
FWIW, the cop tasers have allot more voltage, and do work at a distance, as the electrodes shoot from the unit. They generally do not take the person away in the cop car, but in an ambulance, or at the very least get checked by paramedics before being released for booking.

[CaptainK]

Ooops.

You're right Kai. I forgot about the meat wagon!!

But yes. What I last said. And add the meat wagon (ambulance) at the end of that last post.

[Lodesman]

We have the same problem with the bleedin' hearts wanting to take tazers away from the cops. Most of the tazered perps that died were high on meth or some other street drug. Surprise surprise - amphetamines speed up the heart rate; add 50,000 volts and game over. If someone is stupid enough to ingest drugs bought from some low-life on the street, they should expect death as a possible side effect. Take the tazers away from the cops, and guess what they'll use - their sidearms. You have to wonder what drugs the whiny leftists are on?
Sorry for the rant - back on topic: tazers are illegal in a lot of places and have the drawbacks of short-range and limited-shot or one-shot only. As fra as ways to avoid confrontation, I'm all for that - any ideas Mike? What about the sonic device used by that cruise ship? Or, I seem to recall hearing about some novel ideas for riot-control devices, including one that used low frequency sound waves that disorients the target and makes them nauseous - how about that?

Kevin

As a "bleeding heart liberal", let me say I am not against tasers. In fact, quite the opposite, I feel that non lethal weapons are the best means that law enforcement has available to manage the crazies that are out there harming people. My issue is with the misuse of these weapons. When the guy is on the ground unconsious, and twitching, LET GO OF THE TRIGGER! It is an unfortunate fact of life that some people have no concept of society, and feel it is acceptable to get high, and steal, and I feel those people should be dealt with. But not with deadly force. Let the courts kill them. Someone rapes a kid, run them down, and do what ever it takes to put them in custody, but let the court sentence them, not some 21 year old hot head fresh out of the police accademy, with the typical judgment of a 21 year old.
As for sonic weapons, that is a great idea. From what little I know about them, they are still not in the stage of an effective weapon for the general public, but eventually they will be. It is a proven fact that a sonic blast can stun a person. It is also a proven fact that certain frequencies, amplified, and directed can cause severe pain and nausea sufficient to incapacitate an attacker. This would be a weapon that I would carry aboard my boat. In fact, it would be a weapon that would be worth the aggrevation to have on board while travelling internationally. A taser is limited to close proximity as you pointed out, and is limited to one shot. An approaching vessel that was expressing a threat to my boat could not be stopped by a taser, and therefore a taser is not a practicle solution. As I said, I am a liberal, and I think it would be inaccurate to lump all people with liberal ideas into a group that follows a single belief. Just like it would be unfair to say that all conservitives are Christians, and carry guns.

[CaptainK]

Alright bleeding heart liberal. Whatever ?

[BC Mike]

I wish I had the answers. I am in favour of anything that does not kill people. Suicide by being shot by police is rising. We have to try and show that the sane part of society acts in a rational manner, and does not join the lunatics. This is not easy as shown on the world stage. Most of the folks the fuzz and the rest of us encounter, are normal average guys, yet we need to be able to recognize the baddies when confronted. Too many inocent situations have resulted in death. A guy shoots his wife thinking she is a burglar. There are times when we have to weasil our way out of a situation. If there is no wiggle room then it could get messy. Once it becomes a life or death situation I am for whatever is required to defend yourself.
If I had a rocket launcher I would make somebody pay, by Bruce Cobern comes to mind. But we must explore all non violent options first, not the other way round. I do like the British and NZ police approach to this. They are user friendly as long as you are. If you create a dangerous situation they call in the Armed defenders squad in NZ and the trained assisans in England.
But the real crime is mans inhumanity to one another, and I do not think doing it in the name of God has helped.
Michael

It used to be that you could get pulled over for speeding, and given a stern warning, or maybe a ticket. Now, every stop is a felony stop. I was pulled over about a year ago. Didn't do or say anything, just answered the questions. I was asked to step out and put my hands on the roof, even though I was wearing a business suit, and it was in the middle of the day. I was, in fact, working, and committed a very minor traffic infraction. It is unfortunate that it has come to this, and I can understand why, but it is no less aggrevating. It seems absurd that we should even need a thread like this. If people would act live civilized human beings, it would be reasonable to carry a gun. There are places where it would be appropriate to hunt with it, but that is not the point here. And things are getting worse. I am still not a proponent of guns on board for protection, but I can understand it.

[CaptainK]

It used to be that you could get pulled over for speeding, and given a stern warning, or maybe a ticket. Now, every stop is a felony stop.

Not true Kai?

I got pulled over in Visalia, California. I was speeding. Yes!! I admit I was. 20 mph over to be exact.

But, being the sueve cool guy I am. I talked the CHP officer down to 5 mph over the limit. And no felony from that?

Were did you get that felony idea from?

The only way you would get a felony rap from driving. Is this.

#1. Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
#2. Speeding wrecklessly.
#3. Speeding, and trying to run away from the police/highway patrol.

These are the sure fine ways of getting a felony, while driving a car!!

A "felony stop" is a procedural thing. THere are standard procedures for a traffic stop, and those procedures change according to the degree of crime that prompted the stop. A person who is believed to be armed, or otherwise considered to be a danger to the officers making the stop (not necessarily the general public) is stipped with what is called a felony stop. Anymore, most traffic stops are done with this same level of caution, including, in my case, having me exit the vehicle, and place my hands on the roof. FWIW, my "Big Crime" was to make a left turn into the center turn lane, then merge into the traffic lanes. I was cited for impropper use of the center turn lane. I guess I am a menace to society.

[CaptainK]

Oh I see now, were you're coming from?

Yeah, that is very wrong. I suppose the police are paranoid. So the powers that be. Gave them more powers to pull that off.

I suppose it helps out with their investigation. Or to make it easier to apprehend you physically?

[Lodesman]

KaiNui - I hope that you just got a warning. It's unfortunate that the cops now have to take those precautions, but I have to say you're fortunate to have police that actually take notice of traffic infractions. Just today as I was going home, I looked over to see a woman on the wrong side of the yellow dividing line trying to make an illegal left turn. The car beside her was a marked police car. Honked to get the cop's attention, waved and pointed and nothing happened. Didn't even roll down his window to tell the woman she was going the wrong way. Sheeesh.

[CaptainK]

Just goes to show ya. That even the police, does not want to do their job sometimes?