The police cannot protect you
Dear Editor:
Wait a minute, did I say that? I have been a policeman for 42 years. Why would I ever say something like that? Well, I didn’t. Sometime in the ’70s I read an editorial in the Los Angeles Times written by Daryl Gates, chief of the LAPD.
The title was just that: “The Police Cannot Protect You.” Don’t believe me? Google it and see that not only can’t they protect you, they are not even legally required to do so. Many police chiefs have said the same.
So why would I think of such a thing two years after retirement? Because, with our constitutional right to keep and bear arms slowly being stripped from us, how then will a disarmed citizenry protect itself from: home invaders, armed robbery, violent assault, or God forbid a tyrannical government.
The police do not fear a good citizen with a gun ... any gun. The police are always thrilled to hear of a good citizen protecting his life, family, or property with a firearm, be it a handgun or long gun. I know I always was, and still am.
Some 35 years ago I heard an old sergeant say that “police protection was an oxymoron and that free citizens must protect themselves.” We will not be free citizens if we allow our government to disarm us.
Many county sheriffs are coming out to say they will not enforce unconstitutional federal laws regarding guns that are legal now, but will suddenly become illegal. I would hope our sheriff will do the same for the citizens of Blount County.
As a former U.S. Marine, Vietnam veteran, retired police officer, and upstanding citizen of this great country, my right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed by a government that treats me not as a citizen, but as a subject.
Van J. Bubel
5145 Morganton Road
Greenback, TN. 37742
