CA Police Officer Suggests Shooting Open Carry Advocates
By Gerard Valentino
MercuryNews.com is reporting that an East Palo Alto, CA police officer allegedly posted comments on Facebook to advocate shooting citizens who open carry.
Detective Rod Tuason's comments angered pro-gun supporters and should have angered all citizens with the flippant tone he took while he discussed killing another human being.
Detective Rod Tuason apparently made the remarks in response to a friend's status update, which joked that gun advocates who carry unloaded weapons in plain view as a political statement should start doing so in places such as Oakland, Richmond and East Palo Alto "and not limit themselves to hoity toity cities."
"Haha, we had one guy last week try to do it!" Tuason replied, referring to a Redwood City man who strolled into the Mi Pueblo Food Center in East Palo Alto on Jan. 27 with a gun on his hip. "He got proned out and reminded where he was at and that turds will jack him for his gun in a heartbeat!"
After several more comments in the thread, Tuason apparently joked that officers should shoot the advocates, who have made recent headlines throughout the Bay Area for sipping coffee at cafes and performing other everyday acts with visible weapons.
"Sounds like you had someone practicing their 2nd amendment rights last night!" Tuason wrote. "Should've pulled the AR out and prone them all out! And if one of them makes a furtive movement ... 2 weeks off!!!"
Although most in the pro-gun community realize that the rank and file law enforcement officer understands their obligation to enforce the law, jokes about killing a citizen who is exercising his rights is cause for concern.
Luckily, for Detective Tuason, his comments were allegedly aimed at gun owners, a non-protected group in the eyes of the media.
Imagine, however, if a police officer made the same comments about a minority activist trying to exercise the right to free speech. In that case, the officer would likely lose his job, and the media would make the story the centerpiece of the 24-hour news cycle for weeks. Congress might even hold hearings and investigate the situation.
Yet, because his comments were directed at someone exercising rights protected by Second Amendment, the story is largely ignored.
Some hoped the treatment of gun advocates would change after the U.S Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to bear arms. The lack of outcry in this case tells us we have a long way to go before the media and government will consider gun rights equal to the other rights affirmed in the Bill of Rights.
The sad truth is that day may never come, but this shouldn't stop us from letting the media and our elected officials know that we won't stay quiet while our rights are belittled.
East Palo Alto's Police Department has an obligation to fire Detective Tuason if he did in fact make the comments attributed to him, just as they would likely fire him if he commented on shooting a woman for exercising her rights to equal treatment under the law. Such an outcome is highly unlikely, but that shouldn't stop us from demanding that Detective Tuason's superiors do the right thing.
This situation also teaches us that while we've come a long way in the last 30 years in fighting to gain acceptance for the right to bear arms with fear of retribution, we aren't even close to the finish line.
Of course, we should never forget that there are law enforcement officers among the millions of active pro-gun advocates across the country. It isn't fair to lump them in with someone willing to joke about getting two weeks of vacation as a bonus for killing someone.
However, Detective Tuason's comments are unforgivable.
To that end, pro-gun advocates need to bury the East Palo Alto police department in letters, phone calls, and faxes, to remind Detective Tuason's superiors just how serious we take his comments.
If we choose not to act, we give credence to people willing to devalue the right to bear arms, and ultimately make it easier for those who wish for the end of our rights as we know them.
If you choose to voice your opinion to the East Palo Alto police department, please be brief and courteous. You will merely hurt our cause and reinforce negative stereotypes if you are rude or threatening.
Click here to contact the East Palo Alto Police Department
Address: East Palo Alto City Hall, 2415 University Avenue, CA 94303
Telephone: (650) 853-3100
Fax: (650) 853-3115
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