Gun opponents would leave predatory cops armed and their victims helpless.
For fans of legal restrictions on self-defense rights, 2020 is a disaster. It provides continuing evidence that to push gun control proposals is to advocate that the likes of Derek Chauvin—the Minneapolis cop who killed George Floyd—should be armed, while the communities they terrorize should be helpless. It is also to insist that when police fail at their supposedly core task of protecting the public, people should be deprived of the means for defending themselves. As many Americans lose faith in law enforcement and do what’s necessary to shield lives and property, it’s unlikely that they’ll be an enthusiastic audience for future disarmament schemes that would make those of us who don’t work for government even more vulnerable to those who do.
Back in January, prominent gun control advocate and then-presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg responded to reports that an armed church security guard stopped a would-be mass murderer by sniffing that such behavior is inappropriate.
“It may be true—I wasn’t there and don’t know the facts—that somebody in the congregation had his own gun and killed the person who murdered two other people, but it’s the job of law enforcement to have guns and to decide when to shoot. You just do not want the average citizen carrying a gun in a crowded place,” he said.
That comment hasn’t aged well in a world dominated by names of victims of police violence such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and uniformed perpetrators like former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Before he was charged with murder for the killing of Floyd, Chauvin had 18 prior complaints filed against him. Of the three other officers fired and charged over Floyd’s death, Tou Thao also had a record of complaints—six in total, including one that resulted in a $25,000 settlement for the use of excessive force.
Chauvin and Thao are part of a larger problem. Five years after a U. S. Justice Department report called for changes in how the Minneapolis Police Department handles officer misconduct, “law enforcement agencies have lacked either the authority or the will to discipline and remove bad officers from patrol.
