Cops and guns
Do you think "the policeman is your friend"? If you are a gun owner, you may think that since LEOs carry guns they have something in common with you. If you read any gun magazines, you will see articles about guns written by cops and ex-cops. You may not even notice the "Only Ones" attitude, in spite of the sprinkling of abominable phrases like "properly licensed", or "where permitted".
You would do well to recognize that the reality is different than what you may assume.
Cops, for the most part, see guns as something only they should have unless they decide to permit you the same "privilege". If you properly beg their permission, and obey all the unethical "laws" their cronies enact (and which they enforce), you might be "allowed" to own a gun, and maybe even carry it - until they get twitchy about it. Then the first thing that will happen is that your gun will be taken or you will be shot as a potential danger to "officer safety". Forget all the nonsense about "street cops" having a different attitude about "citizen" gun ownership than their masters at the hive- um... "headquarters". Just walk past a cop with a holstered gun on your hip, in most places in the country, and see how well he respects your rights.
Once, as I left a gun store in a city far from here, I was approached by a nice older gentleman. He warned me that the store proprietor was an ex-cop, and that a lot of off-duty cops were among the store's customers. He said I should trust no one in the store and watch what I said. The funny thing was, I had not spoken a word other than "Hi, just looking" as I browsed and could not have come across as "governmentally skeptical". It was simply assumed that I, an obviously "non-LEO" gun appreciator, should be warned about the treacherous vermin inside. A sign of the times if there ever were one.
