7 ms·
That doesn't explain the first ~230 years of US history though, where police weren't this way and we had the same Constitution.
by Lendal 3mo ago
That doesn't explain the first ~230 years of US history though, where police weren't this way and we had the same Constitution.
- mc32 3mo agoIt’s possible it’s a bit of an “arms” race, the police are more aggro but so are the public. At least in public perception back before the 70s its was perceived that by and large there was “respect for authority” but that’s eroded over the decades for various reasons among them court cases asserting more rights for individuals where cops can’t just up and arrest willy nilly. But also movements like “sovereign citizen” leaks in places enough to affect behavior elsewhere. Also weapons are relatively cheaper today than decades ago.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- mothballed 3mo agoThere's an insane number of police shootings where it turns out the person was looking at an insanely large sentence and they "weren't going back to jail." From that perspective it's not even clear they're acting irrationally -- if the penalty for third-striking for stealing a TV and murder is the same then some criminals are going to make it worth their while.
- supertroop 3mo agoAssault rifles were banned for most of that time. Now I can go buy 10,000 rounds of green tip XM85 ammo and an AR platform at a gun show in an hour. I’m not saying that justifies militarization (that’s mostly war profiteers selling to police departments and right wing alignment with law enforcement) but OP isn’t completely wrong.
- rascul 3mo agoAssault rifles were banned for 10 years.
- supertroop 3mo agoThey were not legal to buy until the 1980s.
- deleted 3mo ago[deleted]
- rascul 3mo agoThat's not true, on a federal level. Colt was selling a civilian model of the ar15 to the public in the 60s