Secret Service agents protecting President Joe Biden’s granddaughter have opened fire after three people tried to break into an unmarked Secret Service vehicle in Washington.
By itself, you are absolutely correct. It’s a property crime and nothing more. When local cops shoot these people, you are right to be upset.
But the secret service (etc) deals in situations where these things may not be isolated. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where step 1 is to isolate/strand the target, while step 2 is much more sinister. Part of their standard operations is going to be ensuring they always have an exit strategy, should the need arise.
Beyond that, there is also the very real danger of terrorism. In this case, it seems that the would-be thieves had no idea who they were targeting. But there are plenty of people who could’ve been following them, waiting for an opportunity.
Also, you’re making a very bold assumption about how many potential bystanders there were. I don’t know the area where it happened, but very little of my shopping has more than a handful of people at a time anywhere near my vehicle.
Bullets, even from small handguns, travel a very long distance very fast until they hit something. This is exceptionally negligent. It doesn’t matter how many bystanders there were. The most common round used in handguns is a 9mm, and it travels at upwards of 1300 feet per second and can travel for miles. No one’s life was in immediate danger, there was no reason to discharge a firearm in public. I’ve owned guns all my life and it’s negligent things like this that make responsible owners and competent police look bad.
By itself, you are absolutely correct. It’s a property crime and nothing more. When local cops shoot these people, you are right to be upset.
But the secret service (etc) deals in situations where these things may not be isolated. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where step 1 is to isolate/strand the target, while step 2 is much more sinister. Part of their standard operations is going to be ensuring they always have an exit strategy, should the need arise.
Beyond that, there is also the very real danger of terrorism. In this case, it seems that the would-be thieves had no idea who they were targeting. But there are plenty of people who could’ve been following them, waiting for an opportunity.
Also, you’re making a very bold assumption about how many potential bystanders there were. I don’t know the area where it happened, but very little of my shopping has more than a handful of people at a time anywhere near my vehicle.
Bullets, even from small handguns, travel a very long distance very fast until they hit something. This is exceptionally negligent. It doesn’t matter how many bystanders there were. The most common round used in handguns is a 9mm, and it travels at upwards of 1300 feet per second and can travel for miles. No one’s life was in immediate danger, there was no reason to discharge a firearm in public. I’ve owned guns all my life and it’s negligent things like this that make responsible owners and competent police look bad.