Don't Shoot

I was 18, sitting in a busful of Canadian Bible college students, crossing the Canada-US border. A US customs officer asks if we had any firearms. We laugh, saying no. What would a bunch of teens studying the Bible be doing with guns? The customs officer, completely serious, replies, but how are you gonna protect yourselves?

 It was such a foreign concept to me. Protect myself---from what? I had been catcalled, I had been pickpocketed on the bus home from high school, but none of these things warranted pulling a gun on anyone.

Not yesterday, though---
Ten people tragically died yesterday in a horrific attack on my city's streets.

Ten people dead is, of course, ten too many. But still, I'm glad it wasn't eleven.

A mass murderer certainly is more deserving of having a gun pulled on him than a pickpocket or a catcaller, and pulled on him it was. But that's as far as it got.

No one has been executed in Canada since 1962, and the death penalty has been officially abolished since 1976 [source]. I believe this was the right choice.

And so, even as I mourn his victims, I am glad that this man who tried to commit suicide by cop still has the chance to get some help. Presumably this will start with him being held accountable for his actions.

I wish to give my deepest respect to the cop who risked his life and didn't shoot. It takes great courage to face violent situations and not back down; it takes even greater courage to seek the most peaceful outcome when faced with a senseless tragedy.

Comments

  1. TerryApril 25, 2018 at 7:08 AM

    WYNC has a podcast episode about the US definition of what is reasonable action for an officer. https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/radiolab-presents-more-perfect-mr-graham-reasonable-man

    ReplyDelete

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