Weer'd World

So Tam has a nice little snarky riff on what might be one of the dumbest bills I’ve heard of. (OK I live in Massachusetts, that’s totally a lie)

The “minimum force” bill, which surfaced in the Assembly last week, seeks to amend the state penal codes’ “justification” clause that allows an officer the right to kill a thug if he feels his life or someone else’s is in imminent danger.

The bill — drafted in the wake of Sean Bell’s controversial police shooting death — would force officers to use their weapons “with the intent to stop, rather than kill” a suspect. They would be mandated to “shoot a suspect in the arm or the leg.”

Under present NYPD training, cops are taught to shoot at the center of their target and fire their weapon until the threat has been stopped.

Well first up, the current training IS to stop the threat, not to kill. The Training is correct. What these goofballs don’t understand is that real-life is NOT Hollywood, shooting to stop somebody can often be fatal, and there aren’t any two ways about it. Cops Do have the advantage of having many force tools in their duty belts. Most carry OC Spray, a Taser, and a baton of some sort, not to mention I bet many get some basic unarmed restraint training. (FYI, I see no need for a civilian to carry anything but a personal firearm for defense, as your job is NOT to uphold the law and maintain the peace. If my life is not being threatened I’m walking away….at worst I’m backing away from a non-deadly threat slowly, but if things get worse than that I’m justified to shoot. No sense engaging until it gets to that point IMHO)

Still just to show the stupidity from a Biology standpoint have a look at this visual aid:

Now where on that person would you put a bullet to avoid killing this person? Seems Hollywood is a HUGE fan of the bullet-to-the-shoulder, where the tough-guy just grits his teeth and fights-on. Have a look at the image. Shoulder, you know right near the axillary/brachial artery? If the bullet clips that artery, the recipient won’t be long for this world unless they get immediate medical attention. Shoot him in the hand? Why would you think somebody could commit suicide by dragging a razor across their wrist, but a bullet somehow won’t cause the same results?
In Lethal Weapon, Danny Glover (the Communist) babbles about shooting bad guys in the leg. Leg, look at that Femoral Artery, another quick way to die.

And of course you need to think about what the immediate result of these are. A severed major artery is a death-sentence, but will it necessarily stop the attacker? Depends on how bad the rupture is, but a smaller nick might allow the attacker to maintain blood pressure long enough to finish whatever got him shot in the first place.

And then there’s the logistics of aiming for small fast-moving targets rather than the larger slower center-of-mass. Aim for harder-to-hit targets means more missed shots, and more potential for collateral damage.

So again a law that does NOTHING that it claims to do, but WILL make life more dangerous for lawful people. Good work New York Liberals!!!

Arrrrr

-Weer’d Beard

PS: Did you see this image they used? Man the old Wrist-hold support grip. Nothing screams “I know nothing about guns” than when you see somebody shooting like that!

Texas Knows its Shit!

Without fanfare, the first step to airport-style security checkpoints was opened Friday at the four entrances to the Texas Capitol.

The visitors and lobbyists must walk through metal detectors and have their purses and briefcases searched. In coming weeks, their belongings will have to go through X-ray machines yet to be installed.

State employees can walk around the checkpoint if they show valid state identification, as can Texans who carry a pistol with a concealed handgun license.

They had me nervous at the first bit, but they know how to do it in the Lone Star State.

Of course the sheep need their representation:

The express lane for gun owners is clearly marked: “CHL Holders.”

“It’s quite intimidating. We’ve never had to go through this before,” said Beth Lord, a retired personnel manager who was visiting the statehouse with her grandchildren.

“If they’re going to have security like this, why are they letting some people to come in with guns? That doesn’t make too much sense.”

“Letting some people to come in with guns…” Like Cops? It doesn’t make sense to have cops let in with their sidearms?

Oh you don’t mean that, right? Because cops have training and have undergone background checks, right? right?

Officials have justified their decision this way: Concealed handgun license holders are required to undergo training and pass a background check — steps that are expected to weed out potential nuts and terrorists.

Fuck yeah!

Go Texas!
H/T Alan