• Pons_Aelius@kbin.social
        0·
        1 year ago

        Yes, once every person in the USA voluntarily hands in every semi-auto rifle…the cops will decommission the tanks.

        • snooggums@kbin.social
          1·
          1 year ago

          Sure they will, because most police forces have used them in situations that require an armored vehicle and aren’t just doing it to cosplay being the gestapo.

          • Pons_Aelius@kbin.social
            1·
            1 year ago

            sorry. I thought once every person in the USA voluntarily hands in every semi-auto rifle. made it obvious I was not talking about reality.

      • Knusper@feddit.de
        02·
        1 year ago

        They might not sell it, but they probably wouldn’t get funding for buying another one.

  • Leviathan@lemmy.world
    0·
    1 year ago

    I can ask both. I can even ask if maybe one of the reasons cops have that is that people are more heavily armed?

      • apazzy@lemmy.world
        1·
        1 year ago

        The police aren’t a part of the community they serve, it’s explicitly trained into them to treat every situation as “us” vs “them”. If “they” have rifles then “we” need armored vehicles.

        Edit: to be very clear, I am not in support of police militarization.

    • Shapillon@lemmy.world
      1·
      1 year ago

      Or a revolution ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      (agreed we’re not there but that’s another use of civilians owning warfare weapons)

      • Kage520@lemmy.world
        01·
        1 year ago

        That’s exactly the argument that conservatives always give for gun ownership. But like, how would they possibly overrun the largest military in the world with their personal arsenals?

        Maybe they could take a city but I can’t see it being a long lasting victory.

        • Uncaged_Jay@lemmy.world
          0·
          1 year ago

          If anything, the US’s engagements in Vietnam and, more recently, the Middle East have shown that eradicating an insurgent force is incredibly difficult, to the point of being almost impossible. On top of that, there are weapons used during the GWOT that wouldn’t (shouldn’t(?)) Be used against American citizens, unless their goal is to be rulers of the ashes. On top of that, there are plenty of American Servicemembers that would straight up refuse to attack American citizens, and would potentially aid the insurgency with things like vehicles and ammo.

          Add on top of that the extensive gun culture and sheer number of veterans in the general US population and I’d say they have a fighting chance.

          I say this all as a former military intelligence analyst myself.