Dear NRA apologists: "It will never happen" is not a valid argument against gun control.

[Deep13]

81. partly principal and partly practicality.

If the public really is totally disarmed like in England, then there is simple no need for cops to carry firearms except in extraordinary cases. A state that does not rely on violence is generally a less violent society. That goes for high rates of incarceration, the death penalty, tolerance for poverty etc. Also, frankly, an awful lot of cops are not much better than criminals themselves. Sure, there are some very professional and dedicated cops. But there are also a lot of school yard bullies who became cops to push people around. So, yeah, ideally, I'd prefer fewer weapons in official hands.

The other part is principle. I'm not convinced that we are all that democratic. The way the system works with districts and majority rather than consensus requirements, certain topics being off limits for public discourse, voter suppression, "low information voting," and the amount of corporate money involved in electioneering make this for the most part a semblance of democracy. Seriously, how many people on this board voted for Obama because he was not as bad as the other guy? A free society trusts its citizens, it does not lord over them. So if citizens cannot be trusted with these weapons, then neither can the state which, after all, is just made out of citizens. Putting on a uniform or taking an oath of office does not by itself instill any public virtue or wisdom in a person.