In the days following the tragic sniper attack in Dallas that left five police officers dead and more injured, many familiar arguments surrounding gun violence and gun control have once again started to percolate throughout news programs and online discourse. It is a conversation that more and more frequently appears on the front page of newspapers as mass shootings or police-involved shootings occur around the country. As with many recent shootings, much of the Dallas attack and aftermath was caught on camera which led people in the area and others tracking the situation online to speculate about who the shooter might be.
As Obama urges unity and Trump sows the seeds political of discord once again, the Dallas Police Chief spoke out about the police response last Thursday night and the tactical decisions the department took when neutralizing the threat. As part of his briefing, David Brown addressed why the “good guy with a gun” argument that the NRA loves so much isn’t that effective of a point to make when advocating for gun ownership. Exhibit A is the photo that circulated of a “person of interest” in the attack who ended up only being a local man who had an open carry permit for an AR-15 rifle.
“…It’s increasingly challenging when people have AR-15s slung over and shootings occur in a crowd and they begin running, and we don’t know — or we don’t know if they’re the shooter or not, or they begin, it’s been the presumption that a good guy with a gun is the best way to resolve some of these things”
It’s a valid point, and one that people have made following similar mass shootings – most recently the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting where some victims may have been killed by friendly fire – time and time again. Then, Brown dropped the hammer on gun advocates’ go-to argument with a single line.
“We don’t know who the good guy is versus who the bad guy is if everybody starts shooting.”
They should put that on T-shirts. He speaks further about how in Texas the police department has reached out to legislators about their concerns in an effort to manage open carry while still allowing people their Second Amendment rights. The NRA being as powerful as they are though, it isn’t an easy task to convince legislators that diminished gun rights are the way to go. A police chief from a major American city speaking out about the complications that gun ownership and open carry causes could be a major step in the right direction.
Watch the full press conference video below for David Brown’s full briefing on the attack and investigation.
(via Raw Story)