Maybe it is time to regulate body armor

[Condo Guard]

https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/bo...uffalo-shooter

Not a new problem - Slate ran an article in 2012 called "Killers in Kevlar." Might be time to look at Amazon and the like and stop letting them sell anything to anyone. (Since we're not going to do anything about the mental health care crisis in this country, and any new gun control will be about as effective as all the previous gun control, which is to say - ineffective.)

I'm curious as to where these vests are coming from - I thought they were a restricted purchase (at least when new), and every company I've worked for had pretty strict inventory practices on them.

[Jim1348]

Here is the Minnesota Statute on this.

https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609.486

609.486 COMMISSION OF CRIME WHILE WEARING OR POSSESSING BULLET-RESISTANT VEST.


A person who commits or attempts to commit a gross misdemeanor or felony while wearing or possessing a bullet-resistant vest is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both. Notwithstanding section 609.04, a prosecution for or conviction under this section is not a bar to conviction of or punishment for any other crime committed by the defendant as part of the same conduct.

As used in this section, "bullet-resistant vest" means a bullet-resistant garment that provides ballistic and trauma protection.

[The Night Rider]

Why should mere possession of a piece of safety equipment be regulated?

this is an old argument but it comes up every time, do you really think that a guy that's willing to shoot up a supermarket is going to hesitate to break the law and wear body armor?

[Condo Guard]

Why should people not be able to buy elevator override keys on Amazon? (Because homeless drug addicts in Seattle use them to cause mayhem, and tie up Security and elevator technicians on resetting the elevators.)

Why shouldn't anyone be able to buy pounds of fertilizer and load it into a Ryder truck? After all, its just fertilizer, right?
Remember all the laser pointers used in the protests against cops? They're just light sticks, right?

There are plenty of industries that have safety and other equipment that is not available for sale to the general public. I'm not a big regulation guy, but too many people have too much stuff they use maliciously that they got too easily. I don't know what the answer is, but the average person doesn't need a kevlar vest (except maybe in Chicago.)

[The Night Rider]

Why shouldn't anyone be able to buy pounds of fertilizer and load it into a Ryder truck? After all, its just fertilizer, right?

Actually, you can buy pounds and pounds of fertilizer. As a matter of fact, people buy it by the tonAND they transport it in trucks.

Remember all the laser pointers used in the protests against cops? They're just light sticks, right?

And I can still walk into the Dollar Store and buy one. In fact I can walk into Grainger Supply and buy Surveyor's Laser that will take your eyes out.

Or I can get on Thriftbooks and buy a copy of TM 31-210 for 15 bucks (including shipping) and really have some fun.



The fact is, you can regulate body armor all you want and the criminals will still get it.


I mean, if all we have to do is regulate it why don’t we just regulate drugs? I'm sure that will solve all of Seattle's problems. Let's make it a crime to be homeless. Let me know how that works out.

I'm not a big regulation guy,

Why, yes. Yes you are.

but too many people have too much stuff they use maliciously that they got too easily.

and they will continue to get it easily regardless of what laws you pass.

the problem with the laws that you're proposing is that they never disarm the criminals, only the law abiding and then Authoritarians, like yourself, propose more laws.

I don't know what the answer is,

But you're willing to experiment by taking away my rights?

but the average person doesn't need a kevlar vest (except maybe in Chicago.)

Who TF are you to decide what I need?

Question, would your body armor regulations exclude you? I mean, you'd still be able to buy body armor right?

[The Night Rider]

Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.

Robert Heinlein

[Condo Guard]

"The right for you to swing your arms ends at the tip of my nose." (A British politician said that, I believe.) Robert Heinlein was really good at spouting pithy sayings - he was not a deep thinker. Until mankind can follow the golden rule, society has to have rules to function smoothly. The problem is nobody wants to obey the rules they disagree with.

You can be homeless, you can be a drug addict, you can be lazy. Our society makes sure that you don't die from those things. What you can't be is an anti-social chaos agent interfering with everyone else's right to live their lives.

So, if Night Rider were king, everybody could just do whatever they want - including, I guess, killing ten years olds at school because hey, we don't want surly curmudgeons lacking in altruism running the place.

[Condo Guard]

Please read the last sentence of my response carefully so I don't get an infraction - my point was you can't have freedom without responsible limits. You can have any car you want in America - you just can't drive it 100 mph on a crowded freeway. You have freedom of speech - but you can't shout "fire!" in a crowded movie theater. You can open a business anywhere you want - but you can't do harm to the community.

I would very much like to see a robust mental health system in this country, so that people get the help they need. Since we won't do that, maybe we should make it a bit harder for violent, crazy people to inflict mayhem on the rest of us.

[The Night Rider]

So, if Night Rider were king, everybody could just do whatever they want - including, I guess, killing ten years olds at school because hey, we don't want surly curmudgeons lacking in altruism running the place.

Bit of a stretch from "Body armor shouldn't be regulated" to "Let's kill ten year olds" isn't it?

How about we start with actually prosecuting criminals and incarnating them and see how that works out?

To be a little more precise how about we prosecute every felon caught in possession of a firearm and see what that does to the murder rate?