From the moment it went viral, the video of a DEA agent saying he was “the only one professional enough” to handle his handgun moments before shooting himself in the leg has become kind of the calling card for why a career in law enforcement doesn’t automatically mean an individual is a responsible gun handler.
Just 10 days ago, I wrote about an incident where a Pasadena police officer shot a coworker in an incident described as “horseplay,” all caught on dashcam, and that was definitely an example of what I mean.
This one out of New York City is even worse.
An NYPD officer is accused of pulling a gun on a colleague at police headquarters in Lower Manhattan, authorities said.
Officer Quilbvio Espinal, 35, was arraigned Tuesday on menacing and misconduct charges in connection with the incident on March 26, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Espinal was working in the Information Security Office at One Police Plaza when he allegedly pointed his gun at the woman and raised it to the ceiling before bringing it back down to his side, prosecutors said.
The cop then put his off-duty weapon in another colleague’s desk, despite her refusal, according to court documents.
Internal Affairs arrested Espinal, and it’s safe to say his career in law enforcement is about to be over, but we all need to understand something about police officers.
While the left likes to demonize them, the right often lionizes them. While I tend more toward lionization, the truth is that I grew up around law enforcement. My father was a career police officer and was so at a time when cops hung out with other cops, and their families largely hung out with one another as well. That was especially the case in my early childhood.
What I learned during that time is that police officers are people. There are fantastic officers who want to do the job right because they want to keep their communities safe. There are those who are attracted to the power and inherent respect the badge gives them. Most are somewhere in the middle and do the best they can, but aren’t interested in being a supercop, either. Those who act like Espinal is accused of acting are a distinct minority of law enforcement officers.
Just like regular folks who act like that are a distinct minority of the population as a whole.
So one reason I bring up these incidents isn’t to demonize police officers, because that’s wrong, but to point out why there’s something wrong about police officers being treated as if the laws that limit you and me as gun-carrying citizens shouldn’t apply to them.
Look, I get the arguments. Police officers, by virtue of their work, are more likely to make enemies than the average citizen would. As such, they’re potentially more likely to need to defend themselves than the average person might. Of course, I don’t know how many officers have had psycho stalkers make it a point to show you they know precisely where you live because you said things they didn’t like, but whatever. It doesn’t change the fact that police officers are people, and some of them really shouldn’t be allowed out in public.
Like, apparently, Espinal.
I respect the job police officers do. I do not think they should be subject to a seperate set of rules. “Some animals are more equal than others” was a warning, not a suggestion.
Editor’s Note: President Trump and Republicans across the country are doing everything they can to protect our Second Amendment rights and right to self-defense.
Help us continue to report on their efforts and legislative successes. Join Bearing Arms VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Read the full article here
