06-19-2012, 04:37 PM
I'm firmly in LC's corner on this one even though most of my family tree falls squarely on the, uh...shadier side of the fence. Shootings as a defense against police intrusion would be so rare that adding specific language to the law is gonna cause way more damage than good. No criminal WANTS cops coming to the door, and no mainstream citizen really has anything to fear from rampaging groups of homicidal boys in blue. Those things are scare stories.
I'll give a personal example in this case although I usually don't try to go there. As it happens a couple years ago I had a police "invasion" at my apartment in the middle of the night that was a mistake. My boy and I were dead asleep, it was about three am, when I heard, FROM INSIDE MY PITCHBLACK APARTMENT, a voice yelling "Where are you! Tell me where you are!" I could see a flashlight beam as I leaped out of bed to face whatever intruder it was. Keep in mind I'm in shorts and without contacts: can't see a goddamn thing even if it wasn't dark. If I had a gun at that point it would have been in my hand. Meanwhile, the voice calls out again and I shout back and the beam comes around the corner and blinds me. But not before I see he's got a hand on his gunbutt.
Turns out it was a cop who'd been called out on a medical emergency from some old lady, and had somehow been given the wrong address. He entered my house trying to save some woman, and coincidentally I'd forgotten to lock up so he just waltzed right in. Both of us were pretty fucking surprised to see each other. From his view I was some wild-eyed longhair in skivvies popping out of a dark room.
Was he there without a warrant? Yes. With my permission? No. But in the confusion, if I came out swinging or armed, one of us would have been dead, me defending my house and son or him defending himself. No one to blame, just pisspoor luck and a gun or two.
That's why this is a stupid law. Cops do a thankless job that nobody else really wants, and the last thing they need is another way people can take potshots at them while they're trying to do that thankless job.
I'll give a personal example in this case although I usually don't try to go there. As it happens a couple years ago I had a police "invasion" at my apartment in the middle of the night that was a mistake. My boy and I were dead asleep, it was about three am, when I heard, FROM INSIDE MY PITCHBLACK APARTMENT, a voice yelling "Where are you! Tell me where you are!" I could see a flashlight beam as I leaped out of bed to face whatever intruder it was. Keep in mind I'm in shorts and without contacts: can't see a goddamn thing even if it wasn't dark. If I had a gun at that point it would have been in my hand. Meanwhile, the voice calls out again and I shout back and the beam comes around the corner and blinds me. But not before I see he's got a hand on his gunbutt.
Turns out it was a cop who'd been called out on a medical emergency from some old lady, and had somehow been given the wrong address. He entered my house trying to save some woman, and coincidentally I'd forgotten to lock up so he just waltzed right in. Both of us were pretty fucking surprised to see each other. From his view I was some wild-eyed longhair in skivvies popping out of a dark room.
Was he there without a warrant? Yes. With my permission? No. But in the confusion, if I came out swinging or armed, one of us would have been dead, me defending my house and son or him defending himself. No one to blame, just pisspoor luck and a gun or two.
That's why this is a stupid law. Cops do a thankless job that nobody else really wants, and the last thing they need is another way people can take potshots at them while they're trying to do that thankless job.