“Anyone brandishing a firearm and is not a member of the armed forces or of the police will be arrested,” Duterte said today in a statement. “And if that someone is a bodyguard of a politician, the politician will be arrested as well,” he said. “This is how we will do it, we just have to be really firm in applying the law and protecting the people.”See, it helps that Duterte is mayor--that way, his bodyguards--the armed forces and the police--are exempted.
An inescapable reality of disarmament is that those doing the disarming have to be armed to effectively coerce the armed into becoming the disarmed. Therefore, total disarmament isn't possible.
ReplyDeleteAn inescapable reality of partial disarmament is that some group of people are organizing and directing the disarmament. The fact that citizens who have the liberty to do so arm themselves, and the fact they have yet to voluntarily rid themselves of their arms, strongly indicates their desire to be armed.
We have, on one end, a group of people in control of the disarmers, and on the other, people who don't want to be disarmed. Governance and the governed. The inescapable reality of disarmament is that it is solely a political issue.
It is neither a public safety issue, nor has much to do with crime. Real "gun control", namely training and practice, is what increases public safety. Previous policy changes in the name of safety haven't increased it. The criminal engages in criminal activity regardless of whatever weapon he may possess.
There's only one reason disarm a populace when the vast majority of them have committed no crimes against another's liberty, property, life or limb.