It does matter. This is indefensible, but I also spent a lot of time in countries when I was growing up that had troops and police with fully loaded rifles stationed at every bank and airport and city center- it is entirely different, and we need to acknowledge that there is a difference to make sure it doesn't happen here. If what these cops were carrying was fully lethal, against people that pose no threat (edit: OP said they were breaking up a protest, in which case this has been SOP for over a decade,) we'd have crossed a truly terrifying line in the sand as a country. That is not to diminish or excuse all the other terrifying lines in the sand that we've crossed, or that this picture portrays, just to note that there really is a difference that matters.
We're not in disagreement. I was saying that regardless of whether they're real guns, pepper guns, or toy guns, the end result (i.e. tyranny being enforced) is the same.
Yes, what I was trying to say is that there are different forms and levels of tyranny, oppression, and state intimidation. I've had pepperball guns pointed at me, and I've had a real gun pointed at me, and everyone, in that moment when the barrel is pointed at them, knows the difference. That difference does matter. On a personal level, and on a state level.
Right. That's true if you know what kind of gun's being pointed at you. But if you don't, then you're always going to assume that it's a real firearm, and feel that maximum level of intimidation.
It does matter. This is indefensible, but I also spent a lot of time in countries when I was growing up that had troops and police with fully loaded rifles stationed at every bank and airport and city center- it is entirely different, and we need to acknowledge that there is a difference to make sure it doesn't happen here. If what these cops were carrying was fully lethal, against people that pose no threat (edit: OP said they were breaking up a protest, in which case this has been SOP for over a decade,) we'd have crossed a truly terrifying line in the sand as a country. That is not to diminish or excuse all the other terrifying lines in the sand that we've crossed, or that this picture portrays, just to note that there really is a difference that matters.
We're not in disagreement. I was saying that regardless of whether they're real guns, pepper guns, or toy guns, the end result (i.e. tyranny being enforced) is the same.
Yes, what I was trying to say is that there are different forms and levels of tyranny, oppression, and state intimidation. I've had pepperball guns pointed at me, and I've had a real gun pointed at me, and everyone, in that moment when the barrel is pointed at them, knows the difference. That difference does matter. On a personal level, and on a state level.
Right. That's true if you know what kind of gun's being pointed at you. But if you don't, then you're always going to assume that it's a real firearm, and feel that maximum level of intimidation.