A bad week for law enforcement "professionals" and firearms...

...particularly officers in North Carolina. To begin, an officer with the New Bern, North Carolina Police Department left more than his "deposit" in a Subway sandwich shop bathroom. The officer apparently forgot to take his department issue Glock pistol with him when he left. Incredibly, he didn't realize his mistake until the employees called the police to report the gun being left behind. As always, the department isn't naming the officer because they say it's a "personnel matter". Do you think you or I would get that consideration had we done the same thing? I think it's more likely that we'd be arrested for something like reckless endangerment, and put all over the news as an example of how civilians can't control their firearms properly.

Next, we learn how the Wake County, North Carolina SWAT team, while traveling to a competition in Arkansas, stopped to eat at a diner in South Memphis, Tennessee. While eating, someone broke into their van and stole three "machine guns", two semi-automatic pistols, and two shotguns. Local police are searching for two suspects. Maybe it's just me, but does anyone else think they should have sat where they could see the van out of the diner window, considering the type of cargo they had? Again, if this had happened to you or I, what are the chances that we'd be castigated as being irresponsible in allowing our "arsenal" of weapons to be stolen right out from under our noses? Pretty high, I'd say.

Finally, to round things off with a Northeastern flavor, the Washington County, Maine, Sheriff's Department is reporting that they are missing 25 handguns from their evidence room. Says Sheriff McObvious:

"The sheriff said that if the investigation reveals that someone in his department was involved, the person will be fired."

I would certainly hope so. I also hope that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg sends his crack team of private investigators up there to check out the situation, as there's no telling how many of those guns will end up in the Big Apple. He has no problem with setting up stings in other states for private citizens, so it's only fair that he look into this as well.

As always, I don't publicize these situations to bash the cops involved. They are only human like all of us, and are subject to mental lapses and mistakes. Additionally, just as in the rest of society, there are some officers that are criminals, and take advantage of their positions of authority. I merely list these events here to expose the fallacious thinking by police administrators and politicians, who attempt to convince the general public that only law enforcement "professionals" have the brains, training and skills to handle firearms safely. That's just not the case.