At least 157 people were killed and 270 were injured last year in unintentional shootings by children, according to Everytown, an advocacy group for firearm safety.

    • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Fundamentally, yes.

      I currently live in a fairly rural area. Best case scenario, cops take about 15 minutes to get to me. (Realistically, getting attacked by a bear is the most likely scenario that needs a police response.)

      When I lived in Chicago–Austin, Humboldt Park, Little Village–I had to call the cops because someone was trying to kick down my front door. It took them about 30-45 minutes to show up, and then they just parked in the alley and didn’t even come check, or call me back. Literally nothing. (Come to think of it, they make have just coincidentally parked in the alley, and not been responding to the call at all.) My ex-wife called the police to report a “domestic disturbance”–implying that I was being violent towards her–and, again, it was about 30-45 minutes before they even showed up.

      Cops can not protect you, and they have no legal duty to do so. If you are in a marginalized group, cops are more likely to victimize you when you need help rather than actually helping.

      • PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        But of course the answer isn’t major police reforms, it’s just “buy a gun and start blasting”.

        If you are in a marginalized group, cops are more likely to victimize you when you need help rather than actually helping.

        If you’re part of a marginalized group and holding a gun, they’ll kill you where you stand and there won’t even be a trial.