Violent Crime: Who or what is to blame?

[misombra]

guns have a purpose other than shooting. you can also knock people out with it.

[Gribble]

I read a few years back that the military was developing a vehicle-mounted laser weapon capable of blinding. Naturally people were up in arms about it. Such a weapon would be inhumane! Better to kill with rifles and bombs than blind, apparently.

[Chimeros0]

TDurden, I think your a little behind on the times.
Your "Pain Gun" is called a "Taser".
A device that electrocutes the victims nerves & muscles into submission...
It is really effective,as no individual can withstand a few thousand volts of electricity & still stand.

[Gribble]

Actually, I wouldn't go so far as to call it really effective. It's good, sure. But you only get one shot and both probes must hit. If the target is wearing thick or baggy clothes you're out of luck. Tasers aren't the best choice for self-defense. A blackjack, now there's a good defensive weapon.

Plus I think TDurden is referring to this: [url]http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7077[/url] which, interestingly enough, is also being protested against. Apparently inflicting debilitating but temporary pain is immoral. Shooting people in the chest, blowing them up with grenades, slashing their throats with combat knives, those are all okay.

[Chimeros0]

*LOL*

Read the article...

I always find it weird that they do these sort of protests.
Torture Vs Humane Chaos Control...

We say Torture wins...
Don't argue,it's cruel to force assholes to obey the law like everyone else.They have special needs...

*LOL*

I wonder how the Taser ever got legalized to begin with...
Perhaps that's why they don't improve its capabilities...

Taser Info:
[url]http://www2.taser.com/products/consumers/Pages/TASERX26C.aspx[/url]

More Info:
[url]http://www.beststungun.com/advanced-taser-m18l.html[/url]

"Must the probes penetrate the body to be effective?
No. The electrical current will “jump” up to 2 inches as long as both probes are attached to clothing or skin. At most, only the 3/8-inch needlepoint will penetrate the skin. Both probes need to be within a cumulative 2 inches of the body to stop an attacker (e.g. if one probe is touching, the other can be up to 2 inches away, or each probe can be one inch away – the total spark distance is a maximum of 2 inches for both probes together)."

Shocking stuff...

[vashti]

Plus I think TDurden is referring to this: [url]http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7077[/url] which, interestingly enough, is also being protested against. Apparently inflicting debilitating but temporary pain is immoral. Shooting people in the chest, blowing them up with grenades, slashing their throats with combat knives, those are all okay.

I think they are ALL immoral. Besides, the objection is that this sort of weapon can cause permanent damage to a person's nervous system. I don't trust people to be able to handle weapons like this responsibly. Haven't you seen what our local police depatment does to *reporters*, nevermind actual criminals?? We have enough weapons to hurt people with. Rubber bullets and stun guns do the job.

[misombra]

Actually, I wouldn't go so far as to call it really effective. It's good, sure. But you only get one shot and both probes must hit. If the target is wearing thick or baggy clothes you're out of luck. Tasers aren't the best choice for self-defense. A blackjack, now there's a good defensive weapon.

Plus I think TDurden is referring to this: [url]http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7077[/url] which, interestingly enough, is also being protested against. Apparently inflicting debilitating but temporary pain is immoral. Shooting people in the chest, blowing them up with grenades, slashing their throats with combat knives, those are all okay.

the cops have to use a lot more discretion when using a gun. with tasers they use the fact that they can't really hurt them (something that is still being debated) to their full advantage. when using a gun an officer has to first rule out other ways of restraining a person or controlling a situation.

[Chimeros0]

The point is: They are trying to make a weapon that doesn't do permanent damage, but can incapacitate from a good distance away.

Think crowd control.

[vashti]

I think the cops enjoy getting up close and personal with the crowd. It's more fun to terrorize them that way.

[Chimeros0]

*LOL*

I would like to beat the crap out of a random unknown individual too, if he was making my job & life that much harder...

Truth is cops keep all their love bottled up...
When they get personal with a crowd,they can share the love...
Let it out...
& rack up a hell of a lot of lawsuits...

[TDurden]

Plus I think TDurden is referring to this: [url]http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7077[/url] which, interestingly enough, is also being protested against. Apparently inflicting debilitating but temporary pain is immoral. Shooting people in the chest, blowing them up with grenades, slashing their throats with combat knives, those are all okay.

That is exactly what I was referring to.

[DoesntMatter]

I think the cops enjoy getting up close and personal with the crowd. It's more fun to terrorize them that way.

I assume you are talking about cops beating up protestors?
Usually when I turn on the news and see the police trying to disperse a crowd, it is because they are having molotov cocktails and bricks thrown at them. At least here in the US. Of course, things are different in Russia and China (I presume, I have never been to either).

And being a police officer is not fun. Most of the time, you are babysitting social degenerates and responding to petty calls (i.e. little league drug dealing, drunkards, domestic abuse calls, vandalism). And police never get the chance to bust big criminals. That's reserved for the DEA, FBI, or BATF. Cops just keep society clean in general and prevent thugs from robbing little old ladies.

And no amount of gun restrictions will ever prevent a psycho from going on a massacre. Ignore the 250 million guns already here in the US. They will keep coming in (illegaly) through the border. It can't be stopped.
Furthermore, just about anybody with computer access and a couple of braincells could find some easy to follow recipe online for making explosives. But this is mostly done by the k3wls. I don't think a bombing would give a violent psycho the satisfaction he would get from personally gunning down his victims.

[vashti]

And being a police officer is not fun. Most of the time, you are babysitting social degenerates and responding to petty calls (i.e. little league drug dealing, drunkards, domestic abuse calls, vandalism). ....Cops just keep society clean in general and prevent thugs from robbing little old ladies.

True, but that is their job. They know it when they sign up. I think this type of work attracts particular types for a reason. (Actually, I *know* it since my husband works in that field.)

Anyway, lots of little old ladies are still getting robbed, which probably fuels the frustration of the cops making them more prone to lash out inappropriately on occassion.

BTW - there aren't too many molotav cocktails or bricks being thrown at cops in LA, although they *are* shot at on occassion.

[misombra]

vashhhhh is a cop lover.

[vashti]

Neither lover nor hater...