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YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN FOLKS
By
Ron Willis
I recently had a discussion with a friend and former
colleague, a retired police officer. I am planning on
retiring at the end of June, 2001, and we often meet and
discuss life after police work. In our latest discussion, he
said something that struck me. He commented on a recent
Oregon court ruling (Gatti) in which all undercover
operations in Oregon have been either drastically scaled
back, or stopped outright. He said; “Criminals have become a
protected class in Oregon.”
In “Gatti,” an attorney posed as a doctor and telephoned the
other party in a civil law suit. The court not only ruled
that was improper, the court also said any attorneys who
practice to deceive, may be dis-barred. The ruling has sent
shock waves through the Oregon legal profession. Prosecutors
can no longer give advise on deceptive activities of police
officers, for fear of dis-barment. Since it would be foolish
to begin a major undercover investigation without the advise
of a prosecutor, many investigations have simply stopped. I
have one such case assigned to me, where an AIDS patient is
meeting kids in chat rooms and later meeting them for sex.
Normally I would work with the FBI to covertly contact the
suspect, pretending to be a kid and arranging for a meeting
for the purpose of sex and remove this vermin from the
street. Because most (if not all) FBI Special Agents are
also attorneys, they too fall under “Gatti”. The criminal
society in Oregon is having a field day.
What has this got to do with the Second Amendment?
“Gatti” is a prime example of the courts exceeding their
authority and legislating from the bench. Instead of
chastising one attorney for his mischief, he imposed his
pro-defense leanings statewide. It is one more example of
activist judges sanctioning criminal behavior and eroding
the safety of our society.
Because of such judges legislating from the bench, the
rights of victims have been further eroded, in favor of the
rights of criminals. I can not pretend there is anything
remotely close to justice any longer. It is all about
attorneys making money, and political activism. My attitude
lately is becoming; Just work the case, push the paper,
collect my wages and keep my nose clean for 7 more months.
I am no longer counseling victims that there is any hope the
guilty will be punished. A criminal getting off on a
technicality was once the exception, now it is becoming the
rule.
I (we) can no longer tell victims that acts of revenge are
rare. In today’s drug & gang infected society, acts of
revenge are commonplace. I (we) have to look them in the
eyes and tell them they are on their own for protection. Our
culture has so stigmatized firearms, when I suggest they arm
themselves, I am met with horrified disbelief. They have
been so corrupted by our media, all guns are now thought to
be bad. They can not believe a police detective would
actually suggest the police can not protect them.
As I write this, we still do not know who our next president
will be. One thing is clear, however. If Al Gore is sworn
in, he will waste no time in working toward the disarming of
private citizens. Oh sure, during the campaign he said
“hunters and sportsmen” do not need to worry about losing
their guns. He said all he wants to do is have “common
sense” registration and licensing. (I could go on at length
about that, but for the sake of brevity, I will not.)
Mr. Gore, nowhere in the Constitution are “hunters &
sportsmen” mentioned. The Second Amendment is not about
hunting! Using his own words, there is “No controlling legal
authority” to support his claim about sportsmen being
protected. Some in the anti-gun movement have declared any
bolt action rifle with a scope, is a “sniper rifle.” Still
think your deer rifle is safe?
Maybe I’m just now catching up with reality and maybe I’ve
been blind all these years, but I used to believe in the
concept of justice. No longer. It is up to individual
citizens to defend themselves, because the state is failing
to protect them, by not punishing the guilty. That may not
be an option much longer, as the state slowly takes away the
means for self defense, one step at a time, under the guise
of “common sense gun safety laws.” One need look no further
than England to see the effects of total gun control and
“common sense gun safety laws.” Britain was once hailed as
the epitome of civilized society, where even the police
officer on the beat need not be armed. Not so any longer.
Many beat cops in large cities in Britain are now being
issued firearms. Gun crime has sky rocketed since the last
major piece of “common sense gun safety laws.” The crime
rate in the UK has now surpassed that of the USA. In
Britain, if a citizen uses a firearm for self defense, no
matter how well justified, he is guilty of a crime.
As my retirement looms ever larger, and I continue aging, I
feel certain that in my lifetime I will not lose my guns.
Under Oregon law retired officers are “allowed” to carry
concealed. So far anyway. If a certain kind of firearm is
declared “bad,” as in California, or all concealed carry is
outlawed, then I will most likely become a criminal, and my
34 years of public service will have been for naught. I
will, by civil disobedience if necessary, keep my guns. As
Mr. Heston often declares, “From my cold dead hands!” My
fear is that my children and grandchildren, will not know
what their rights are, because of the dumbing down of our
schools and mass media propaganda.
Rights are not something given by the state. Rights are
given only by God. The state may try to legislate against
gun ownership, but the rights will remain intact. God is not
subject to state law.
Ron Willis, Detective[NL]Gresham, Oregon Police
[PARA]pioneer@t…
http://www.ci.gresham.or.us/departments/pd/headquarters.htm[
PARA]Disclaimer: All comments are the personal opinion of
the writer and not intended to represent any government
agency, whatsoever.
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