From: "IG", [EMAIL PROTECTED]
You dont seem to see the big picture.
Your argument is totally irrelevent. Individual police
officers do not, should not and never will have the choice
as to which laws, passed by parliament, they will or will
not enforce. Yes, enforce. The police do enforce the laws,
the courts decide on guilt or otherwise and impose
suitable punishment if necessary.
If I understand you, the insinuation is that because you
and others (me included) think a piece of legislation is
unfair and unjust, then INDIVIDUAL officers should refuse
to uphold or enforce that law. When you talk about
the 'Police' do you mean the organisation or individuals?
Because if you mean the organisation, then a decision to
refuse to uphold a law would be contrary to the constitution
and the oath. If you mean the individual, that would mean
him or her commiting a discipline and probably a criminal
offence. The continuous thread here is that the Police
should not make up their own interpretation of the law,
yet this is exactly what you are saying should happen!
Once again, I deeply resent the use of Nuremberg as a
comparison. It does you no credit.
As far as the silly comment about shooting speeding
motorists goes, the author can not be really serious about
introducing that into a debate. Dave........I HAVE NEVER
DEFENDED THE HANDGUN BAN! I was as much a victim as
anyone here!
Neither have I tried to call private shooters amateurs
with regard to their abilities! I am even trying to get
acknowledgement that civilian (and I dont care who hates
that term) shooters could pass on much needed skills and
instruction!
Definetely the last post!
IG
--
Of course it would be a disciplinary offence, that's what
the police are there for! But it's not a violation of
any law per se, are you seriously saying that every
police officer always arrests everyone they see violating
the law? You use no discretion at all?
The general point I am making here is that the police
are not the lackeys of Parliament. Of course if it
was a public situation the officer might face
disciplinary charges for not "doing his job" but we
can safely assume if it came to that, the law would
be so repugnant that would be a fairly trivial point.
Assuming for the moment that there were some morally
upstanding people in the SS or Gestapo (I'm not saying
there were, just assume it for the moment), and
the _only_ reason they smashed up a Jew's shop or
beat someone up or something was because they were
under orders to do it, then when it came time for
the trials after the war, I think it's a safe bet
that such a person would have been sitting there
thinking: "Damn, I wish I hadn't enforced that law!"
Because in the end their actions were held to be
morally wrong, and the defence of "I was just following
orders" didn't wash. (Yes I realise the Nuremberg
trials were a joke and hardly anyone was tried who
should have been, I'm just coming up with a hypothetical
situation).
I suppose what I and others have been saying in a very
round about way is that there is more to being a police
officer or civil servant or politician or whatever than
sitting reading a pile of directives from the Home Office
or court precedents etc., at the end of the day there
is the difference between right and wrong which the
Nazis for example were held to account for in Nuremberg.
Many people who do decide to do the "right" thing do get
villified for it, and taken to court and have the book
thrown at them (like this MI6 guy at the moment), but
as contrite as it may sound people expect other people
to do the right thing.
The way in which the handgun ban was enacted and enforced,
together with the heaps of horror stories we get from people
like Guy Savage and Jim McAllister gives the impression
that the police aren't interested in doing the right thing,
in fact they appear often hell bent on doing the wrong thing,
and that is where all of the concern over this issue springs
from.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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