Comment Re:It used to be your rights end where mine begin (Score 1) 1082
The deterrant effect of an armed populace isn't just from the fact that they can fight back. The deterrant also comes from the fact that your police and armed forces that would be called on to defend the government against an armed uprising would have to make the choice to take on their own friends and family, their own fellow citizens.
It's not necessarily a sheild against police abuse, but it's a lot harder to shoot at your own people, no matter how you're trained.
No matter how nastily a government labels its dissenters, the police and other security forces will have to look at and decide whether or not to shoot at a human face. And that fact can often protect you as much as anything else.
It's not necessarily a sheild against police abuse, but it's a lot harder to shoot at your own people, no matter how you're trained.
No matter how nastily a government labels its dissenters, the police and other security forces will have to look at and decide whether or not to shoot at a human face. And that fact can often protect you as much as anything else.
