We lost a good one

Someone on another forum turned me on to this article, which is about a terrible tragedy that happened the other day:

An Indiana State Trooper was shot and killed by a person whom he thought was a stranded motorist. Master Trooper David Rich had stopped to help a motorist that he thought needed assistance. As Rich approached the car, the nutcase inside shot the officer with a shotgun, and then killed himself.

By all accounts, Trooper Rich was a good and dedicated officer, as shown by his attempt to help the motorist, and I am deeply saddened by his passing. Rest well, sir.

This case actually brings up two points that I'd like to mention:

1. This case didn't happen in a vacuum. Sometimes I believe that anti-gun activists think that "cops and robbers" is a show on TV, and that it takes place in an alternate universe, where bad things never happen to ordinary people. What if you or I had stopped to help this person and he did the same thing to us? I sure would like at least a fighting chance to defend myself against such a whacked-out individual, should that same situation happen to me.

2. I am sometimes called "anti-police" by a few critics. Nothing could be further from the truth. The overwhelming majority of officers are good, dedicated individuals such as Trooper Rich, who took the job in order to help citizens with their problems, and to investigate and solve crimes. I am very appreciative of the job they do, and I return the courtesy by being polite to them at all times, and by being very conscious of their safety if I am pulled over by turning on my dome light, keeping my hands on the steering wheel, and telegraphing my movements and intentions so that they have no surprises to react to. I also mention outstanding individuals and actions here, in order to give them proper credit for a job well done.

What I am, however, is anti-police state, a situation in which only government employees and their armies and police forces get the means to defend themselves, and where the general populace is denied the fundamental right to self-protection, as well as the means to fight against an authoritarian government that is out of control. I call attention to the incidents where out-of-control officers and government flunkies abuse their authority and power in order to illustrate just how easy it would be to create two classes of people should firearms be banned - the small number of people who hold all of the power and all of the guns, and the masses, who are then easily controlled by the minority, regardless of whether the population agrees with them or not.

The perfect example of this, of course, is the Robbinsdale police officer, who found out the hard way that the 2nd Amendment means that an ordinary citizen has the right to self-protection, even from a police officer, if said officer commits a crime and jeopardizes that citizen's safety and liberty.

RIP, Trooper Rich. I wish every all officers could be as professional and dedicated as you were.