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Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

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Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#71

> Imagine if the US suddenly had a dictator This is why we have the second amendment. And the constitution as the thing to which office-holders swear allegiance to rather than to "the party" or "the president".

If HK'ers had a similar right to carry guns, do you honestly believe that they would be any better off right now?

You need to define what is "better".

Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#72

> Imagine if the US suddenly had a dictator This is why we have the second amendment. And the constitution as the thing to which office-holders swear allegiance to rather than to "the party" or "the president".

Non-American here, i never really understood your second amendment or how you cling to it in the modern age. What are a couple of rednecks with assault rifles (which arguably they shouldn't be able to purchase anyway) going to do against semi-autonomy kill droids being flown from a bunker in the desert?

Not American, but I think maybe the point is the minute the government has to resort to taking up arms, or using the military against it's own people then it has already lost. At that point the country is effectively done, it's a failed state.

Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#73
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No offence intended, just a stereotypical image i go to when thinking about the US's gun culture and all the problems it brings.

The US is not Texas. The image a lot of my Europeans co-workers have is Texas. Not sure where you are from.

Fun fact, in my language "Texas" means crazy: https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-daily-post/yall-norwegians-...

Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#74
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If HK'ers had a similar right to carry guns, do you honestly believe that they would be any better off right now?

It’s uncertain what the eventual outcome would be, but one thing is for sure, it would increase the threshold before the tanks rolled in.

If they were armed this would have been over a long time ago. China would have gone in with tanks and the army, or even air strikes. Once you take up arms against the government that’s not a protest, that’s a civil war.

Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#75
post #6

Not to defend what the police have been doing overall during this protest, but in this specific incident you can see the protestors beating a police officer on the ground, and the protestor who got shot was swinging a metal pipe at the police officer that shot him.

Full context is police officers often beat protests during arresting. Sometimes they just fight each other. Anyway, I think the officer have better choices than attempting to kill the kid(shot in chest is obvious willing to kill).

I think anytime you shoot a gun at one someone you are shooting to kill, shoot to maim feels like it would be practically impossible outside of movies.

But I might be wrong, I've never shot a gun.

Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#76
post #69
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing the original Americans did when protesting the massively better trained and armed British Army. Keep their wits about them and keep fighting. If anything the war in Afghanistan has proven that technology is no match for resilience and grit.

I'm confused - are you saying that Afghanistan triumphed?

Did we win Afghanistan? Did we win Vietnam?

Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#77
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Non-American here, i never really understood your second amendment or how you cling to it in the modern age. What are a couple of rednecks with assault rifles (which arguably they shouldn't be able to purchase anyway) going to do against semi-autonomy kill droids being flown from a bunker in the desert?

Your estimate of "a couple of rednecks" is off by orders of magnitude. There are millions of AR-15's in private hands in the United States. Those are just a fraction of the 300 million privately owned guns in the US. This country is armed to the teeth.

Still wouldn't do anything to a malicious government controlling the army. And for overthrowing government you don't need to be armed - see dozens of examples all over the world - the army is made of citizens as well after all.

So, no, it doesn't make any sense in the current age to say you own guns to protect yourself from the government.

Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#78
post #70
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see it the opposite way, the tanks become a last resort. They have to use hard power rather than alternatives.

You’d think that an armed protest group would mean that the government reacts with _less_ force? Rather than simply deploying an appropriate amount of force to stop them? Because the simple fact is that the government will win in the game of “who has more guns and power”, just as it would in the USA, and there is no way a government would set a precedent that all you need to make it capitulate is wave a gun around. I…

> the simple fact is that the government will win in the game of “who has more guns and power”, just as it would in the USA

I do not actually agree with the premise that, in this modern day, governments can no longer be overthrown. Civil wars are not won on the basis of "who started with more guns?".

Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#79
post #64
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing the original Americans did when protesting the massively better trained and armed British Army. Keep their wits about them and keep fighting. If anything the war in Afghanistan has proven that technology is no match for resilience and grit.

Same thing the original Americans did when protesting the massively better trained and armed British Army. Get saved by the French? ducks

It‘a kind of ironic, the French were so focused on screwing over the British, that they nearly bankrupted themselves and raised a generation of freedom fighting officers. Both eventually led to food shortages and revolution.

Re: Protester shot in chest by live police round during Hong Kong protests

#80

Sure, the kid was swinging at the officer, and I suppose that warrants the officer acting in self-defense. But another question is, what are the protesters supposed to do? The government has all the power, and can simply snuff out any resistence. If you just stand in the streets, they really don't care, they are going to take your freedom. Imagine if the US suddenly had a dictator that just decided they were going to…

> Imagine if the US suddenly had a dictator

Not so hard to imagine these days.

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