Hi there POIROT...

I don't believe anyone in their right mind could possibly say the United States doesn't have a gun problem ! Not just your normal .22 bolt action Rimfire, the kind used on rabbits. Rather they seem to have an unfettered access to sophisticated military small arms of a type and calibre dedicated to the destruction of a human being !

About 2006, in company with my wife, we payed a visit to a F/A Store, quaintly named; 'Machine Gun Kelly' in Las Vegas. Thereat, one could (for a few dollars) live-fire many different types and styles of sub-guns, and for those who were unsure how to load and fire each model, an eager staff member would happily oblige by demonstrating the whole operation. An example of true American customer Service.

Despite their 'right to bear arms' nobody can make a case for permitting the general population to possess and use military styled small arms, particularly those that may have a 'select fire' option that can easily be modified to full 'rock 'n roll !

I know I'll be critized by some of you, for taking such a moderate leftist stance. But we've got to draw the line somewhere, before our American cousins obliterate themselves.

Poirot,

Sorry to be pedantic but the ordinary US citizen is not permitted to have an AK47.
To be licenced in the US to have weapons capable of fully automatic fire requires going through a licencing process that is very strict.

@Poirot, Monday, 18 July 2016 9:50:43 AM

What gun wouldn't you feel is threatening, 'problematic' and evidence of a 'gun culture'?

You wouldn't want Daisy air guns, replicas, toy guns or water pistols to fall into the 'wring' hand now would you?

What about knives? This young mother got herself into trouble with the police for being in her own kitchen with a knife,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/6957682/Myleene-Klass-warned-by-police-after-scaring-off-intruders-with-knife.html

Trucks? More restrictions necessary and ban those automatics?

Protective Police? At best police can only be a deterrent and then only a weak deterrent effect where most offenders are concerned. Had those youths decided to molest Marks & Spencer model Ms Klass and her 2 yr old daughter, they could have done so (see link above). She was told off by police, but what they didn't say was that both the ambulance and the coroner's van would likely have beaten them to the address if those youths had decided to call her bluff.

No inanimate object is a threat in itself. To be effective, regulation must focus on the user, the person and laws must be evidence based.

'wring' should be 'wrong'

o sung wu,

"Mr Kinsey on the ground with his arms in the air with the young autistic man sitting on the ground nearby playing with a small white toy.

In the video, Mr Kinsey can be heard shouting to police: "All he has is a toy truck. A toy truck. I am a behavioural therapist at a group home."

The video ends just before the bullet hits his leg."

""I am asking the officer, I said, 'sir, please don't shoot me. Please, do not shoot me'," he said.

"It was like a mosquito bite, and when it hit me, I'm like, 'I still got my hands in the air'.

"And I said, 'no I just got shot' and I'm saying, 'sir, why did you shoot me?' and his words to me, he said, 'I don't know'."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-22/police-in-florida-shoot-black-man-lying-on-ground/7650836

'...And he was placed on administrative leave...' according to police sources ?

Hi there POIROT...

I saw three police at the scene, surely to goodness three coppers could've used some other force option, if force was necessary at all. Of course I wasn't there, so I can only comment from what I've seen. To me it seemed to be a substantial overreaction to an incident that clearly didn't need armed intervention, other than assisting the autistic fellow (who apparently had a bit of attitude) from the road, lest he be hit by a car. And three coppers can't manage to do that !

I fully understand many US police are becoming 'gun shy' - imagining every black has a F/A secreted about his person. I guess I'd be the same if I performed duty in a large US City. But they all have other less lethal force options available to them, before the need to resort to a F/A. Including:-

(a) KB-26K (or similar) impact weapon;

(b)chemical incapacitants eg. CN, CS, or Pepper spray;

and finally,

(c)'Tasers' or similar.

All these 'aids' are officially issued to Officers, in order to assist and protect police before there's a need to resort to their F/A.

Furthermore there would be well over, ninety percent of every operational patrolmen, in addition to the minimum force options issued to them (above), many will also carry a 'felony 1 Sap'; a back-up F/A on his ankle, and other (unapproved) accoutrements to assist in controlling highly restrictive individuals.

POIROT, The only reason I've chosen to describe precisely, the number of non-lethal force options available to police, is to clearly illustrate, there are quite a few other options that police have available to them, before necessarily choosing 'lethal force', the gun.