Why Why Do You Need Guns? Because Cops Have No Legal Duty To Protect You

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Here is a heads up to anyone who thinks that police officers are there for your protection: They aren’t.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I know several law enforcement officers, and all of the folks I know are good, decent folks who will do anything that they can to protect you, but that doesn’t change the fact that they don’t have a legal obligation to protect you.

Think that I’m making this up? I wish that I was. Valerie Strauss gives us the details,

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A federal judge in South Florida tossed out a lawsuit filed by more than a dozen students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., who said they were traumatized by a mass shooting there in February and that county officials should have protected them.

U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom said neither the school nor sheriff’s deputies had a legal obligation to protect students from the alleged shooter, Nikolas Cruz, who is accused of killing 17 people at the school Feb. 14. Her reasoning? The students were not in state custody, the Sun Sentinel reported.

Bloom, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2014, wrote in her opinion:

“The claim arises from the actions of Cruz, a third party, and not a state actor. Thus, the critical question the Court analyzes is whether defendants had a constitutional duty to protect plaintiffs from the actions of Cruz.

“As previously stated, for such a duty to exist on the part of defendants, plaintiffs would have to be considered to be in custody.”

It’s not the first time such reasoning has been used. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police did not have a constitutional duty to protect a person from harm. That ruling overturned a federal appeals court in Colorado that allowed a lawsuit to stand against a town when its police refused to protect a woman from her husband. He had violated a restraining order and kidnapped their children, whom he killed, the New York Times reported.

Again, understand that I’m not saying that most police officers won’t do everything in their power to protect you, but that doesn’t change the fact that you can’t depend on anyone else to protect you because they aren’t legally obligated to do so. And that’s yet another reason that you should be armed.

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28 COMMENTS

  1. Don’t the cops usually show up just in time to string crime scene tape and chalk mark the bodies?
    I’ll keep at least one of my handguns on my person every waking moment, thank you. You may ask if I’m paranoid, and I will ask if I’m paranoid enough.

    • That IS their job.
      Government has no duty to any individual to protect that individual.
      The chief official duty of any law enforcement agency is to protect the revenue. The state (government) attempts to keep the peace and order so that taxpayers can go about generating revenue.
      What about non-government dependents upon government benefit (handout) programs? They serve as an excuse to expand government size and scope. Some of them will escape dependency on government and become taxpayers. But there will always be more.

  2. Is it not the state that says they have to be there at a certain time and dismissed after so long and if not a truancy officer will find out why …

    • Every state provides an “out” for custodial parent(s) to keep the child(ren) out of state (government, whether state, county, municipal or school district custody: private schools, home tutoring and home schooling.
      It is not the school-age child’s choice but it is the parent(s)/guardian’s choice.

  3. Police do not, in fact, have any authority to protect a citizen, especially when they are not present. But there is a more sure solution to these issues in schools. A law to convict a parent who did not secure their firearms safely from the kid that gets one and uses it illegally. Convict any adult who has control of firearms in a home and bring future shootings to an end.

  4. That’s all well and good. But they now have at their disposal thanks to the so called politicians saying felons cannot own guns. If someone is that bad they should not even be on the street. And by the way. That came out of the 68 GUN CONTROL act. A man that is set totally free has every stinking RIGHT the same as his fellow men. It was GOD GIVEN. NOBODY and I mean NOBODY has the authority to say otherwise. But the wicked seen the way to sneak it in the backdoor. Knowing full well the people could be SUCKERED in to accept it. and it worked. I say come Lord Jesus. ENOUGH is ENOUGH.

    • Many years ago when released from prison the parolee was provided a suit of clothes suitable to his(her) occupation or trade, a horse, a GUN (a cheap single shot rifle) and $10 (a substantial amount of money then). I supposed they figured that the really dangerous people had been hanged?

  5. The Supreme Court has ruled, several times, that “The police are under no obligation to protect an individual citizen.”

  6. The 2nd amendment gives me the right to bear arms. This was established by our forefathers to establish the FACT that we (private citizens) have the right to defend ourselves against 1) a TYRANICIAL government and 2) to protect ourselves and our families and property from criminals and anyone that invades our domain. Unfortunately the police are a reactive action (not their fault), therefore we as individuals must be prepared and ready for action and prevention through immediate response actions.

  7. This really isn’t anything new. There are a string of cases that say the same thing – the police have no duty to protect the individual. If you google “Police no duty to protect”, you’ll see a bunch of cases – Warren vs. District of Columbia, DeShaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services, etc. In any case, to place you and your families well-being in the hands of someone who may be miles and minutes away at the time you need them is absolutely ridiculous and cowardly.

  8. Last I heard, billionaire Anti-gun politician, Michael Bloomberg, has seventeen armed body guards. Bloomberg wants to take guns away from decent, honest

  9. Last I heard, billionaire Anti-gun politician, Michael Bloomberg, has seventeen armed body guards. Bloomberg wants to take guns away from decent, honest citizens. Michael Bloomberg will still have his armed body guards but the rest us will be defenseless without our firearms. Michael Bloomberg is pro-criminal! He is talking about running for President of the United States of America!

  10. “The Students were not in State Custody”. Where does the SO-CALLED “judge” get this information from? IF the Student does not show up for “school”, the parent is FORCED to give the State money or serve time in a court or jail. Perhaps the Student is REMOVED from the home because the Student was not in CUSTODY in the SCHOOL’S building due to LAW!
    The JUDGE is LYING again and TWISTING the TRUTH.

    • No, the judge is correct. Children in a public school are NOT “in custody”. They would only be “in custody” if they were under arrest, or subject to a lawful court order. The school is acting in “loco parentis”, which means “like the parents”, meaning the school kids are considered to be with their parents, not under arrest.
      The judge is both telling the truth, and thinking clearly. It’s YOU who are confused, LaddyBoy….

    • So true 🇺🇸S must wake up to common sense but libs are just to FN stupid it’s a shame that judge is any where near a bench of law

  11. then how can a “RED FLAG LAW WORK”. They have no duty to protect me. What a joke.

  12. Scary but true is’nt it?? the cops have no duty to protect you.So if the cops hav e no duty to protect you???who is??? How about Col.Sam Colt,Smith and Wesson, Ruger etc??? Take a fire arms course NRA preferably because they have given the most fire arms courses in the United States.Always take a fire arms Safety Course before you even consider buying a fire arm??

  13. Firearms are fine for peaceable adults. But when you have children in the home you are foolish to keep a firearm at the ready if it is not securely attached to your person at all times.
    Our next door neighbor had problems with bears getting over his 6′ chain-link fence. He had already shot and killed one that refused to leave. One day he was getting ready to take his kids in the car. After loading up he thought of something and went back in the house. “For just a moment,” of course. He absentmindedly left his revolver in the glovebox. When he came back out the car was full of smoke. His boy had taken the revolver and shot his younger sister to death.
    Just a moment’s distraction and his daughter was dead, his son traumatized and eventually his wife divorced him over this incident.
    One day my three year old boy came up from the basement (where he had been strictly forbidden to go), “Look, Daddy! Look what I found!” I nearly soiled my pants. He was holding an automatic pistol. He was holding it as I taught each of my children: by the grip, no finger inside the trigger guard, not pointing it at anyone.
    Years earlier before marrying I had hidden this pistol in a valance near the ceiling. I had forgotten about it. He had climbed up shelves full of stuff to get the pistol. I had left it in “condition yellow”: loaded magazine, empty chamber. But its slide was not hard to draw back and its three safeties (firing pin lock, trigger lock, grip safety) easy to disengage.
    Lesson learned without incident. All of my other firearms had Master trigger locks, padlocks through the trigger guards, lever lock. Except this one.

    • BOB BOB BOB,this is the old libo FAIRYTALE ??? Here’s some facts BOB>> if you own a fire arm and have a small inquisitive CHILDREN you keep the gun in a BIO METRIC SAFE.THIS IS A GREAT SAFETY DEVICE,they can’t open it and you can get to it if you ever need your fire arm(HOME INVASION ROBBERY). ETC???. AND AS FAR AS A CHILD PULLING THE TRIGGER ON A REVOLVER BOB, >>IN MOST CASES THE CHILD TURNS THE REVOLVER AROUND WITH THE BARREL FACING HIM OR HER>>>THEN THEY PLACE BOTH THERE THUMBS THRU THE TRIGGER GUARD AND ON TO THE TRIGGER.AT THAT POINT IN TIME WITH THERE TWO THUMBS THEY ARE ABLE TO PULL THE TRIGGER.MOST FATALITIES ARE CAUSED BY GUNSHOT WOUNDS TO THE HEAD????FACT???

  14. The very fact that the students were in school puts them in “School Custody”. State law says they must be in school or they can be arrested. The state and school also have rules that restrict students from having the means to protect themselves. That puts them in state custody! I think the plaintiff’s lawyer in this case was extremely negligent. Most lawyers are liberals who would side with this extremely left judge, especially in Broward County, FL.

    When the state makes laws that infringe on the rights of people to defend themselves or their loved ones, then the state has a duty to protect.

  15. The police is not preventing crimes, they are there to investigate crimes. Preventing crimes would mean to put a cop behind every citizen to look over their shoulder.

  16. Are the cops not employed by the city and the children are citizens of that city? And they post to protect and serve on their patrol cars.

  17. Their main job is to enforce the law. That is why they are called “Law Enforcement Officers” not “Protection Officers”.

  18. Bob, That twisted decision by judge bloom is a great argument to why we need Charter schools ! The truant officers at Jefferson Jr High, Long Beach, Ca in the 60’s sure thought and acted like we were in custody. Public schools have always been dangerous. Hence the ditching, thank God for continuation schools, for students of parents that can no longer afford private. At least they are useful ours were safe and they taught. Teachers cared there. Our regular public schools bad, a waste of time and young lives.

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