Justifiable Homicides, My Take

In a recent article, I read that some law enforcement analysts say the increased number of justifiable homicides (the killing of a person during the commission of a felony by a private citizen or by a police officer under the color of law) reflects a shoot-first philosophy in dealing with crime.

These same law enforcement analysts say the numbers represent changing attitudes on the streets where some citizens are taking more responsibility for their own protection and where police have often felt more threatened by better armed offenders.

The complete article may be found at:
http://www.officer.com/web/online/Top-News-Stories/Justifiable-Homicides-at-Highest-in-Decade-/1$43712

Soap Box Ravings is not a law enforcement analyst. But he can not help but wonder what affect the general populations attitude shift towards the law has upon this subject of justifiable homicides. Any police officer can tell you that respect for the law, whether it be traffic law (e.g. stopping for a stop sign or speed limits) or the criminal code, the populations attitude has undergone a major negative shift in respect for the law for the last 40-50 years. And with each new year it seems to shift even more.

With more people committing home invasions and car jackings, etc. it is no wonder there are more justifiable homicides. Soap Box Ravings believes if the number of people committing these crimes decreased, the number of justifiable homicides would also reduce.

From another angle, this sentence was taken directly from the article in question:

"In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court in June carved out a right to individual gun ownership, ruling that the Second Amendment allows citizens to keep guns in their homes for self-defense."

As a point of fact, the US Supreme Court did not "carve out a right to individual gun ownership." That right is provided for by the Second Amendment in the "Bill Of Rights." The Supreme Court only reaffirmed that right.

Soap Box Ravings feels the hand of a liberal in the writing of the article. There are other presentations in the article to prove my point, this was just the most glaring one.

When Soap Box Ravings was on the job, either in the US Navy or with the Police Department, this quality of work (the article) was unacceptable by any of his supervisors.