Shout, "gun!" and somone dies.

I was at the Magnum Range in Rancho Cucamonga a couple month back and a couple of lanes were being use by cops practicing. They were in uniform so I figured it was official and I was wearing my Pro Ears that day so I could hear them talking about qualifying. The guy running the session used the word "GUN!" as the command to draw and fire.

At the time I thought that was not a very smart way to train cops in a country where RKBA is explicitly protected by its Constitution. Now it appears that stupidity has cost a cop his life

The friendly-fire shooting that cost a Long Island cop his life was a point-blank blunder that started when a retired cop with no business at the scene yelled, "Gun," an official said yesterday.

Geoffrey Breitkopf, 40, was shot and killed Saturday by an MTA cop responding to a call at a Massapequa Park house where Nassau police had killed a knife-wielding Satan worshipper.

The MTA officers were assisting county cops with mop-up duty when Nassau County Special Ops Officer Breitkopf arrived in a car with his partner, according to Nassau County Police Benevolent Association president James Carver.

As Breitkopf walked toward the house in plain clothes with a rifle slung over his shoulder and his badge around his neck, an unidentified retired NYPD sergeant from the neighborhood -- milling around outside -- cried out, "Gun!" Carver said.

One of the MTA cops tried to wrestle the rifle away, while the other, Glenn Gentile, fired a single shot, hitting Breitkopf in the side, Carver said.

Gentile and his partner were then trying to handcuff the dying officer on the lawn when his hysterical partner ran over and cried, "He's one of us," according to Carver.

"There's a lot of anger with my guys right now about this whole thing," Carver said. "My guy was dead before he hit the ground. He had no chance."

Jeez! Holler gun and all the cops go stupid. I feel safer already.

Smoke, Ass, Blow

Radley Balko writes about his interviews with three law enforcement officials who defend arresting citizens caught video recording on-duty cops. If I hadn't followed Balko's blog, The Agitator, and the Only Ones files from David Codrea's War on Guns, for the past few years I would honestly think the article was satire. There actually was a time I would not believe that a District Attorny or Police Officer would say, on the record, the incredibly stupid things Balko reports.

It's getting harder and harder to find any substantive difference between the criminals and the cops.

"Don't Taze my Granny!"

I used to think that William Grigg exaggerated a little on his blog Pro Libertate. However, I've read about enough cases, from different writers to no longer doubt that the police have become a serious problem in America. This latest one from Grigg via Lew Rockwell is Un Frelling Believable.

Who the Hell Does the Law Belong To?

What is it about reporters that they feel the need to belittle and slander any person who does the right thing? The intended victim in the following story did not "take" the law into his own hands, it was already his. In a Constitutional Republic (or even in a democracy) we the people own the law. It is not the exclusive property of the police and especially not that of ignorant reporters.

Homeowner Takes Law Into His Own Hands

MORGAN COUNTY - The Morgan County Sheriff's Department says a man on East Lacon Road took the law into his own hands. Dispatchers received a 911 call that the homeowner was holding a burglary suspect at gunpoint.

The Morgan County Sheriff's Department says it all started Tuesday when the victim noticed someone had kicked in the door to his home that he was moving out of.

The would be burglar returned Wednesday morning.

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"As soon as he pulled in the driveway the door was standing open again. This time some of his belongings were piled in a pile," said Investigator Robert Newman.

So the homeowner camped out and waited until dark.

"This individual comes up on the porch kind of looked around, turned around and stepped in," said Investigator Robert Newman.

Investigator Robert Newman says Kenneth Michael Stewart walked straight to the pile of belongings he planned to steal.

"As he stepped in he pushed the door shut and there the homeowner was with the shotgun leveled at him," said Investigator Newman.

Investigator Newman says Stewart cooperated with the homeowner until deputies arrived.

Even though this worked out in this situation, officers do not recommend taking these extreme measures to protect your home.

"In that situation it could've gone bad. If he had had to shoot his girlfriend was sleeping in the bedroom on the other side of the suspect. If he had had to of shoot it wouldn't have been good," said Investigator Robert Newman.

Kenneth Michael Stewart is being held in Morgan County jail on $7,500 bond on two counts of burglary.

Copyright © 2010, WHNT-TV

H/T to David Codrea

Police as a Paramilitary Force.

Another followup from Radley Balko on the Dog killing Cops.

Read the whole thing but pay attention to this paragraph:

I’ve heard similar accounts from other members of the military. A couple of years ago after I’d given a speech on this issue, a retired military officer and former instructor at West Point specifically asked me to stop using the term "militarization," because he thought comparing SWAT teams to the military reflected poorly on the military.

I heard the same from some veterans. They tell me that many of the tactics used by SWAT teams would be a quick ticket to a Courts Martial. Even in Viet Nam -- despite what you may have seen in the movies -- a certain level of civilized behavior was expected from the ordinary ground pounder.

I cannot but wonder if it the difference in the mission. Ostensibly the US military is in Iraq to fight terrorists without alienating the rest of the population. Here in the States the cops just don't seem to care how much damage they do to their own reputation with the locals.

The difference is that between a soldier and a thug.