Most police(wo)man in my country don't carry weapons. Armed police have either batons and shields or guns (usually rifles). Police officers can apply for and be given service pistols if needed. Both guns and bullets have to be accounted for.
this post was submitted on 20 Jul 2026
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Unpopular Opinion
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There is no reason for a run-of-the-mill citizen to have access to lethal weapons.
The current version of Law Enforcement needs to be dumped and rebuilt from the ground up.
To Serve and Protect the People of Our Community
should be the standard. If this was the actual standard, you'd see a general decrease in overall weaponization.
End qualified immunity, require police to carry insurance like doctors do, end "police vs citizens", "guilty until proven innocent", and "you have nothing to worry about if you have nothing to hide" mentality.
Wrongful death suits paid from union pension funds should clear things up fast.
And civil forfeiture
There's no reason for ordinary citizens to have unlimited access to lethal weapons either.
Them first.
I can think of several reasons right now, namely the fascistic government.
I don't see anyone rising up.
It's a good thing ordinary citizens don't have unlimited access to lethal weapons then.
Non-lethal weapons in the hands of the state is an oxymoron. Pigs shoot protesters in the face at near point-blank range with rubber bullets, which can blind, cause TBI, or even kill. They taser people in the head, which can cause TBI, or even kill. They sit on people’s neck’s until they die. They hit people in the head with batons, which (you’ve guessed it) can blind, cause TBI, or even kill. They put people in head-locks. They sick dogs on them. Did I mention that this force is applied before a person has even been charged with a crime?
All of those listed above are considered “non-lethal”.
You’ve posted a popular opinion on a left leaning social network. Pretty much any other community on Lemmy would be better suited for your post.
Remote lock...by a supervisor
ACAB, first of all. However, and please bear with me;
I remember very vividly the video of a cop in Brooklyn minding his own damn business in his cruiser, probably eating a doughnut, when some dude walked up to his open window and blew his brains out. So how much time does that guy's partner have to radio HQ and request the weapon be unlocked before he is also looking at a new breathing hole in his skull?
I do agree that not nearly every cop should have lethal weapons. The temptation to go for it when frightened is just too high, especially for the type of people that tend to become cops in the US. However, having them remotely locked and requiring explicit permission also entirely defeats their unfortunately very real excuse for being out there in the first place. Let them all have tasers and batons as that's far more than enough for the vast majority of interactions as you pointed out, but to have the one lethal option perpetually out of reach even when its available and in that one in ten thousand case where it is actually required? Not entirely sure I agree there.
And just to be sure, I haven't forgotten OWS, so NYPD can choke on an entire bag of dicks one at a time and I'll sit back and watch sipping on an Arizona.
what does that have to do with being a cop though? plenty of civilians face that reality every single day and we're just supposed to deal with it.
that's really just a 'shit happens' scenario that just happens to involve the police.
it would make more sense to examine why this is an everyday reality in the USA and take steps to fix the underlying issue.
but, you know...even when a problem doesn't involve the constitution you aren't allowed to fix it. we're the best, don't question it.
I loathe the way things are in this country. Please don't put words in my mouth to the opposite effect. I don't own a firearm and veyy deliberately choose not to.
However, you go ahead and convince cowboy hat wearing rednecks with more pickup trucks than teeth that the system is fucked and their guns are part of the problem.
And adding barriers to voting is also very obviously not the answer either. Its not that I don't want to change the system or think it can't or shouldn't improve. I'm living inside the shit hole. I smell it every day.
There's also still reality, and we must all accept it like it or not. Decidedly not here.
How many times have cops been murdered like that? And how many innocent people have they murdered?
Right, which is why one in fifty cops gets to keep a gun. To hunt down the psycho who thinks that's a good idea and come home afterwards for doing what his job actually is as per the social contract.
I can hate cops as they are today but still want for the actual safety of the public through the proven institution of "policing." No, not the glorified slave-catchers American cops are, but real police.
So brave posting this on Lemmy.
You are of course, completely correct but this is hardly unpopular on this platform.
So brave posting this on Lemmy.
Other than Mastodon this is the only social media presence I keep around. So I'm limited. It was either here or c/showerthoughts. Figured it fit better here since controversial is a kissing-cousin to unpopular
Also, many countries do work like this. As usual this post presumes everyone is in USA.
I didn't know that being brave and unpopular was the goal here.
Learn something new every day, I guess.
Do you really think this is unpopular?
Maybe not in the Lemmy-verse where well all tend to lean left. But certainly in America at large.
The fascist dystopia of watchmen allowed cops to be completely anonymous for their safety, but still restricted officers access to firearms. We've blown past the parody at this point.
No time to get back to the locker when everybody else is strapped.
It should be pre-emptive.
Johnny beat-cop walking the street dealing with traffic stops, vagrants, etc...; nothing that for the vast majority of times requires anything more lethal than a taser.
Suddenly they get called to attend a potentially dangerous scene with a high likelihood of violence occuring and the supervisor says "okay, based on the suspect's history and the run down of the situation (or whatever), I'm authorizing weapons unlock for this one".
Exactly.
The odds of being in line at Starbucks and having to respond to an armed gunman is incredibly low. Especially since said shooter is going to see the cops and decide to go next door or wait until they leave.
Similarly, a lone beat cop on patrol (or even a pair of them) aren't going to be running towards the gunfire. If anything, we have documented proof that much larger numbers of cops would rather establish a perimeter and play flappy bird while keeping anyone from rescuing the hostages.
Contrast that with getting a call that they were to investigate a high risk disturbance and have use of their frearms authorized and unlocked.
But people love to pretend the world is Die Hard and everyone will be saved because that one cop got to carry his glock on an airplane or whatever.
I think the number of guns law enforcement has access to will be somewhat proportionate to the number of guns the public has access to. It's completely reasonable to say "citizens don't have guns so now law enforcement will not feel the need to regularly carry guns"
Unfortunately America has more guns than people, so I'm not sure we'll ever get there
wow. first unpopular opinion I have had to downvote in awhile. I figure the trunk should be hardened from intrusion and be the emergency unlock thing.
Then we don't need to expect run of the mill cops to show up to life threatening situations.
lethal weapons should be in a remote lock holster in their cruiser
They are
As long as we pair them with psychics who can predict with absolute certainty how an upcoming encounter will play out, sure.