It's a thorny issue isn't it. there are over 50,000 people living in the city where I live and work. There are 68 sworn officers with my agency. At any given time there are no more than 12-17 uniformed officers working the streets. This is Idaho. A quiet state, but very gun heavy. Probably as much as Texas ,per capita (is that right?), but we don't advertise like Texas. A safe bet that at least half of the population has one or two firearms in the house. If only 25% of those folks have ammo and know how to shoot I and my fellow officers are wildly outnumbered and outgunned.
But we do our job without that being a concern. Why? Because most of the citizens want us out there. They're busy and the don't have the time or inclination to do the job. So they pay me and my fellow officers to do it. We have the support of the majority of the population. We walk a fine line. Piss everybody off and we're gone - whoosh. Am I afraid of the people? No. Are there individuals in the government who are? Yes. Are there folks who want to participate in an armed insurrection? Yes indeed. And if some of them got in charge they'd make the current crop look like really nice people. Good and bad on both sides.
It's a thorny issue. No easy answers.
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