I mentioned in another thread about carry in national parks that the National Park Service plainly states (on their various web sites) that you are pretty much on your own in the back country. You are responsible for your own safety. They go on to state a few common sense things to keep in mind when you are more than a few feet from the road and in some places, it is perfectly legal to be armed, and probably expected. You could probably say the same thing about national forests, which are under a completely different department and have a completely different attitude about everything.
I haven't checked any police department web site, so I don't know what they officially have to say about the subject. I doubt that what any given policeman would say, if anything, is likely to be 100 percent official. But I think there is a larger issue here that no one has mentioned.
Lots of people here worry about the government, whichever THE goverment it is, taking over and eliminating all personal rights. That may be but I think another problem is that government is sometimes avoiding its own responsibilities to the citizens. This happens for various reasons, one of which is the dislike of citizens (and non-citizens, for that matter) for paying taxes. Taxes are what makes the government run. When we start doing things on the cheap, bridges fall down and the police become scarce. Or they start selling the roads, which has happened, and in effect, privatizing government services.
People have rights, government has power but we all have obligations; to our neighbors, our community and to the nation, and in some cases, especially in the south, to the state. I hope none of these obligations ever conflict. But if all we talk about are rights and powers, we can in some ways become a burden.
Ultimately, if the police are not protecting and serving, then you need to become an activist, a word a lot of people don't like. Otherwise, you have to get organized. You organize with your neighbors, choose leaders, get things done. You may not agree with what your other neighbors and some of the leaders that get chosen, but well, that is pretty much what government is.
Here's another thought; do elected police officials, which is to say the sheriff in those places that don't have a separate police department, function any better than a police chief, typically hired?
I haven't checked any police department web site, so I don't know what they officially have to say about the subject. I doubt that what any given policeman would say, if anything, is likely to be 100 percent official. But I think there is a larger issue here that no one has mentioned.
Lots of people here worry about the government, whichever THE goverment it is, taking over and eliminating all personal rights. That may be but I think another problem is that government is sometimes avoiding its own responsibilities to the citizens. This happens for various reasons, one of which is the dislike of citizens (and non-citizens, for that matter) for paying taxes. Taxes are what makes the government run. When we start doing things on the cheap, bridges fall down and the police become scarce. Or they start selling the roads, which has happened, and in effect, privatizing government services.
People have rights, government has power but we all have obligations; to our neighbors, our community and to the nation, and in some cases, especially in the south, to the state. I hope none of these obligations ever conflict. But if all we talk about are rights and powers, we can in some ways become a burden.
Ultimately, if the police are not protecting and serving, then you need to become an activist, a word a lot of people don't like. Otherwise, you have to get organized. You organize with your neighbors, choose leaders, get things done. You may not agree with what your other neighbors and some of the leaders that get chosen, but well, that is pretty much what government is.
Here's another thought; do elected police officials, which is to say the sheriff in those places that don't have a separate police department, function any better than a police chief, typically hired?