Re:Three Charged in Fatal Kansas ‘Swatting’ Attack
by dragonwriter on Thursday May 24, 2018 @04:53PM
(#17148307)
> Barring repeal of the Second Amendment, the police in the US have the same right to keep and bear arms as anyone else
Not while acting as government agents they don't, just as those acting as government agents don't have the same freedom of expression and association in that context as they do as private citizens.
In fact, the underlying premise of the second amendment (alluded to, though not expressly stated, in it's preamble) is that there would be no substantial professional military forces or paramilitary police force in the US, and that there would instead be a dependence on (selective or mass, depending on situation) mobilization of the citizen militia to address threats requiring response of an armed force. The second amendment isn't rooted in the idea that having an armed population provides security against government armed forces, it was based on the premise that the government relying on the armed citizenry instead of government armed forces, military or police, was a foundation for securing liberty.
Not while acting as government agents they don't, just as those acting as government agents don't have the same freedom of expression and association in that context as they do as private citizens.
In fact, the underlying premise of the second amendment (alluded to, though not expressly stated, in it's preamble) is that there would be no substantial professional military forces or paramilitary police force in the US, and that there would instead be a dependence on (selective or mass, depending on situation) mobilization of the citizen militia to address threats requiring response of an armed force. The second amendment isn't rooted in the idea that having an armed population provides security against government armed forces, it was based on the premise that the government relying on the armed citizenry instead of government armed forces, military or police, was a foundation for securing liberty.