Most Police Officers Should Not Carry Firearms

Concessions/CorrectionsWoops. I'll concede that I did make a mistake with that first link. I had several of the same looking UCR FBI pages open and must have copied the wrong one. However, to be fair, Con missed some fine print as well. Here are the correct statistics.392 Citizens Killed by Police in 2010 Using a Firearm442 Citizens Killed by Police in 2014 Using a FirearmLet us not forget that these statistics are self reported by the Police to the FBI. The actual number of civillians unjustly killed by Officers wielding firearms is likely to go uncounted and unreported to any commitee dedicated to larger oversight.https://ucr.fbi.gov...ContextFirst, I'd like to give a little more context to these "assaults" that Con cites.There were 627,949 Officers employed Full Time in 2014.48,315 of those officers were assaulted.13,645 of those officers sustained injuries from assault.51 of those officers were feloniously killed.46 of those officers were killed by accident.48,315 / 627,949 = ~0.077 AKA 7.7%13,654 / 627,949 = ~0.022 AKA 2.2%51 / 627,949 = ~0.00008 AKA 0.008%46 / 627,949 = ~0.00007 AKA 0.007%https://ucr.fbi.gov...https://ucr.fbi.gov...https://ucr.fbi.gov...https://ucr.fbi.gov...Put It All Together7.7% of Officers are Assaulted.2.2% of Officers receive Injuries from Assault.0.008% of Officers are Killed Feloniously.0.007% of Officers are Killed By Complete Accident.How dare Police say their job is dangerous!? :DI kid you not, more constructions laborers (208) died in 2014 than both Felonious and Accidental Police Deaths combined. (107)http://time.com...Circumstances Of all officers who were assaulted in 2014: 30.8 percent were responding to disturbance calls (family quarrels, bar fights, etc.). 15.2 percent were attempting other arrests. 13.0 percent were handling, transporting, or maintaining custody of prisoners. Weapons of Assaulters In 2014, 79.9 percent of officers who were assaulted in the line of duty were attacked with personal weapons (e.g., hands, fists, or feet). 4.0 percent of the officers were assaulted with firearms. 2.0 percent of the officers were assaulted with knives or other cutting instruments. 14.1 percent of the officers were assaulted with other dangerous weapons. Weapons of Assaulted Of the officers killed in 2014, most (46) were killed with firearms. Of these, 33 were killed with handguns. (A breakdown of the types of weapons used in these slayings is provided in Table 29.) 6 officers had their weapons stolen. 5 officers fired their weapons; 7 officers attempted to use their weapons. 13 officers were slain with firearms when they were 0-5 feet from the offenders. Of the 61 officers that were killed feloniously, only 5 managed to discharge their firearms while another 7 attempted but failed.Maybe a good offense is not always the best defense? Not if you miss or get killed before you even have the chance to fire. https://ucr.fbi.gov...https://ucr.fbi.gov...ConclusionMy opponent seems to believe that I aim to "justify rendering helpless those assigned to help us". Con wants You to believe that it is necessary for me to prove that Officers display "rampant abuse of force" in order for this debate to be won.This is not the case, because I certainly am not calling for our protectors to be "rendered helpless" and Officers do not have to abuse a power for them to be unjustified in weilding it. We shouldn't be giving other people power just because they haven't fudged up using it yet. Helpless is the 100% of non-assailants that were otherwise involved with the police in traffic stops or investigations. Helpless is the 79.9% of actual assailants that only had their hands and feet to fight with when the Police had guns, tasers, billy-clubs, and pepperspray.Helpless is not the 100% of Police that would still have tasers, peppersray, and billy-clubs.Please don't get me wrong. We need for our Officers to be packing when it counts.No, I'm not talking about when the 4% of the assailants that actually use their guns against police are attacking.I'm talking about when the lives of citizens are in danger because another human being has pointed a knife or a gun at them. I'm talking about when another human decides they want the power to take another's life.We need our Police armed and ready to kill when this is the case. We give them the power to beat, maim, and kill other human beings. This power we grant them is not for their own salvation, but for ours. Even if Police Officers must risk being injured (2.2%) or killed (0.008%) by an assailant in the line of duty, it is a fair price to pay.