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    Less Lethal Guns and Adopting A Progressive Lifestyle

    There was an article on a Las Vegas news site about how Las Vegas police were training to use "less lethal" devices during confrontations:

    LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A company known for its firearm technology took the time to teach our local law enforcement about less-lethal weapons Saturday.

    Bryna Technologies' held training in Boulder City this morning.

    Over 150 law enforcement and private security agencies across the country got the opportunity to use Bryna's line of products.

    "I've got some instructors out here that combined have over 75 years of tactical swat and operational experience here to show them exactly how everything is supposed to work and really tune them up on their tactical skills," said Josh Schirard, Director of Law Enforcement & Private Security for Bryna.

    Currently, Byrna is training the ATF, DEA and other organizations on the platform.

    Back during the Obama years, I blogged here about the rash of school shootings and other mass shootings in the United States. I pointed the finger at frequent prescription of SSRI antidepressants, which are documented to cause erratic and strange behavior in adolescents and have mysterious origins and composition. I still think that is a huge culprit, and the tide has turned in opinion about prescribing such drugs. There is also the lack of mental health enforcement, including holding people who demonstrate themselves as a threat to themselves or others. And, of course, there is the easy access of firearms in the United States. Mix that with social atomization and a lack of community and social fabric, racial tension and the militarization of the police and you get a recipe for danger and even tragedy.

    It is not either or, however, and all of these causes work together to create a toxic situation. You have to be creative in thinking how to alleviate such a problem. We are in a market based economy and the right to weapons, i.e. "arms," is enshrined in the constitution. However, think about this one - the Second Amendment just says "arms." It does not say "firearms." By all means, if the government continues to allow people the right to defend themselves in dangerous and toxic situations with arms, it should be able to restrict firearms.

    Imagine how much less disturbing various police encounters, like the shooting of Philandro Castile or Daniel Shaver, would have been if police had used less lethal means. This does not ignore the fact that some cops are genuinely bad and want to hurt/kill people. Only that other means and reduction in firearms use would make such events less likely. Of course, there are critics who say that "the shift from bullets to beanbags only masks a much larger issue regarding how police treat people in custody."

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    The Byrna self defense device, which shoots large "pepperballs" which act as a much more heavy duty exchange of the same impact as pepper spray, is very analogous to the Pepperball airgun created by the German company Umarex. Test videos of the device show that being hit with a pepperball isn't fun at all but is not about to be lethal.

    Umarex is a huge and innovative company in Germany, which also happens to have the strictest firearms regulations in the world. Both the Byrna and Umarex product use CO2 to launch the mechanism. This is technology that has actually existed for hundreds of years, but it was a cultural fixation on firearms that kept it from being adopted until now.

    Firearms exist in Europe, of course, but there are restrictions on access to them so intense that it blocks out most people with harmful intentions. In the United Kingdom, police aren't equipped regularly with firearms but instead have a "firearms unit," in which the weapons are brought out only to deal with serious incidents like terrorists, etc. 

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    Years of progressive Democratic rule have made us reassess and upend various aspects of daily American life. The possibility of deadly weapons being replaced by "less lethal" ones is just one among many changes. Urban roads are now filled with electric bikes and cars, a much more equitable situation than when bicyclists struggled to peddle while sharing roads with giant gas guzzlers.Vegetarian "plant based" and various ethnic foods are now as widely available at grocery stores and restaurants as a hamburger or frozen pizza once was. During more conservative times, these alternatives were non-existent and what they provide an alternative to was either embraced or denounced.

    Wal-Mart has been upended by Amazon. Whereas once nothing was shamed more than accepting welfare or "handouts," both the right and left accepted the notion of conditionless government assistance during the Covid 19 pandemic.The political framework has also been upended. A major political figure, Andrew Yang, has embraced third party politics, while the right is led by people like Saagar Enjeti, Vivek Ramaswamy and Larry Elder.

    Comments

    There are about 1000 killed by police every year. Every year about 25 of those are wielding toy guns. Many more real guns, a variety of other categories.

    Last year there were 14,000 gun murders. This year through June there were already 10,000 gun murders. Now criminals are 3D printing semi-autimatics weapons with new materials. Perhaps we could give the gun murderers bean bags first, and then if that works convert the police over. The US isn't Europe - people are fairly sane over here.

    We've had tempeh and tofu everywhere for decades - just a drop in the bucket among meat eaters - any pick up in vegetarianism is offset by population growth of meat eaters.

    Currently there's almost no electric auto infrastructure - charging stations etc. While some of the big auto makers are rolling out EVs, we're still years from making a huge dent in gas car sales. If anything all the electric scooters just add to the chaotic traffic, plus we don't know how to dispose of all the batteries.

    Andrew Yang is a joke - his major claim to fame was cashing out for a piddling $1 million from some do-gooder charity management startup that never had real numbers. And he's going to turn our economy around?

    Democrats better get serious. Too much patting ourselves on the back.


    Let's play beanbag?

    Man shot dead by cops ID'd as killer of 19-year-old at South Seattle church

    by Quixem Ramirez, KOMO News Digital Producer, Wednesday, August 11th 2021

    SEATTLE — A homicide suspect gunned down after allegedly firing at officers in White Center on Aug. 5 was the suspect accused of killing a 19-year-old at a South Seattle church, authorities confirmed Tuesday.


    Realistically, I think police departments are about to equip non-lethal guns alongside with real firepower, with the former replacing tasers.

    Obviously that would make the "I was reaching for my taser" argument even worse, but it would also give non-lethal options more possibility since a taser is pretty useless unless you are in close proximity to a subject.



    I'm not really quite sure what the point of that gratuitous post was. 

    I will say that recent events involving Alec Baldwin demonstrate again why less lethal methods are necessary. The studio has vowed that it will only use airsoft guns for movies and add flames in with CGI during post-production. This is something that was possible a long time ago, so why live rounds were on set is a question that should be addressed. 

    In addition to the Byrna, which looks like a gun, there are similar devices available that don't look like guns at all. I would say that this all is progress, as people shouldn't be rolling around with deadly force when it's not necessary or helpful.


    Not gonna happen, is pie in the sky. The massive number of handguns will still be out there and unless there is a law stopping production of the ammunition they require, they will be used for a long time, legally or illegally.

     Plus there is great danger right now about changing what is legal. Nov. 2 and Nov. 1 NYTimes op-eds:

    J. MICHAEL LUTTIG AND RICHARD D. BERNSTEIN

    If the Supreme Court Strikes Down This Law, Guns Could Flood Schools and Subways

    and

     Adam Winkler

    If the New Supreme Court Stymies Gun Safety Laws, What Comes Next?

     


    White lady voice (wow, search Twitter for white lady voice memes - a whole new world out there. Anyway, back to this police encounter)


    Your regular reminder that handguns are already outlawed in Chicago.


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