Town Hall Meeting: INGO and Law Enforcement

[Fenway]

This thread is for "on-topic" constructive dialogue only regarding INGO and Law Enforcement.
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I'm looking for suggestions on how to curb some of the negativity and hostility I see on INGO towards law enforcement. I would like INGO to be a friendly place for all gun owners to gather but I'm afraid the many threads I read "bashing" leos is driving those who are in the profession away.

I'd like your thoughts on this please.

Thanks,

Fenway

 

[techres]

I could go on and on and on about the natural divisions in the community, but I will cut to the chase.

You need a meet and greet. People who eat together, especially bacon, tend to call each other names less.

Just a thought,
Techres

 

[jsharmon7]

Good question. I don't really know the best way to fix the problem. I will say that I'm probably not the only one who sees that the same handful of people are the ones who start and perpetuate the vast majority of these types of threads. There are just some people who are always going to assume the worst about the police, will never support anything they do, and will bash anything that involves the police. I think I'm going to just avoid those threads from now on. I've tried to present my point-of-view many times, and I've tried to understand theirs many times. I just don't think it's ever going to get better.

 

[E5RANGER375]

we could all sit down and read the constitution together like congress did.

I dont think its a problem thats gonna be fixed like this. heres my opinion on how to fix it. dont open a thread you know your not gonna like the read. The people haven't started the negativity. we are just reporting and discussing bad actions and policies of certain LEO. If your a good cop then you shouldn't get offended because you know you do your job right. I dont hear Obama supporters calling for a INGO town hall. As long as there is a double standard there will be conflict. this isnt a problem solved here.

 

[Rob377]

I could go on and on and on about the natural divisions in the community, but I will cut to the chase.

You need a meet and greet. People who eat together, especially bacon, tend to call each other names less.

Just a thought,
Techres

Bacon makes everything better. Not just food, but even human relations. You know why there can be no peace in the mideast? Because neither side will sit down and have some bacon with one another! True Story.

Internet anonymity seems like it promotes jerkwad behavior. Putting a face and a real interpersonal interaction to name might go a long way to reducing all that.

 

[pudly]

Good idea. Some form of meet and greet with exchange of ideas/concerns would certainly be a good step. Possibly a meet at a range where we can all have some fun and see that the other side is human.

Wouldn't solve all of the problems in the world, but might help to move things a step or two in the right direction.

 

[E5RANGER375]

Bacon makes everything better. Not just food, but even human relations. You know why there can be no peace in the mideast? Because neither side will sit down and have some bacon with one another! True Story.

Internet anonymity seems like it promotes jerkwad behavior. Putting a face and a real interpersonal interaction to name might go a long way to reducing all that.

meeting face to face will not change my political views. i can and HAVE put aside my political or personal differences with people from here to be civil with them in person. but we didnt discuss politics. this is a band-aid over a gunshot wound in my opinion.

 

[ATM]

especially bacon

Your subtle name-calling almost squeaked by.


Almost.




Let's eat!

 

[Que]

meeting face to face will not change my political views. i can and HAVE put aside my political or personal differences with people from here to be civil with them in person. but we didnt discuss politics. this is a band-aid over a gunshot wound in my opinion.

So, based on the OP, would you suggest any other remedy to the current state of affairs, besides not reading the threads?

 

[Sylvain]

Im not sure a "free hug" meeting day would solve the problem.

 

[jsharmon7]

we could all sit down and read the constitution together like congress did.

I dont think its a problem thats gonna be fixed like this. heres my opinion on how to fix it. dont open a thread you know your not gonna like the read. The people haven't started the negativity. we are just reporting and discussing bad actions and policies of certain LEO. If your a good cop then you shouldn't get offended because you know you do your job right. I dont hear Obama supporters calling for a INGO town hall. As long as there is a double standard there will be conflict. this isnt a problem solved here.

This is part of the problem I think. People here believe things to be a certain way which ends up creating an "us" vs. "them" mentality in reverse. You believe that you and an officer are treated differently, and are therefore "different." How is anything going to change on INGO with that roadblock in place? As to the comment about not opening certain threads, with all due respect, it's a little more complicated than that. Unfortunately that's the point where I've found myself though. It's easy to say "well if you're a good cop then it shouldn't bother you." Most of these threads start out about one bad cop and then everyone projects it onto the the state of law enforcement in general. The posted story tends to just be the jumping off point for the snide comments about law enforcement. Couple that with the fact that certain people seem to seek these stories out just to post them up and say "another isolated incident" really reinforces the point I'm trying to make. If a handful of people posted every story involving a bad soldier and then made comments about how it's the way they are trained and the quality of people they recruit and how most of them are just thugs in camo then I'm sure you'd get a little annoyed too. You obviously don't support bad soldiers but what if every story about a bad soldier turned into an attack on the military in general? I've tried many times to explain that to no avail, so as I said I'm just going to stay out of those threads from now on and let people fling what they will fling.

 

[AZ Hunter]

Well if it's a meet and greet over bacon and E5Ranger will be there, please do it July 2-July 9 so I can attend. Ok, thanks. Come on ranger.....be open to the possibility brother!

 

[dwh79]

I agree Fenway my buddy was on here a very short time because he is impd and just felt like his profession was always being bashed. The LEO's on here are great contributors and I hate to see them ran off by a few that just feel like the LEO's are all crooked. I will admit there are a few bad apples but you have that in all professions.

 

[Sylvain]

Meeting with cops and people who hate cops, especially at a shooting range with everybody armed, is maybe not the best idea.

 

[E5RANGER375]

This is part of the problem I think. People here believe things to be a certain way which ends up creating an "us" vs. "them" mentality in reverse. You believe that you and an officer are treated differently, and are therefore "different." How is anything going to change on INGO with that roadblock in place? As to the comment about not opening certain threads, with all due respect, it's a little more complicated than that. Unfortunately that's the point where I've found myself though. It's easy to say "well if you're a good cop then it shouldn't bother you." Most of these threads start out about one bad cop and then everyone projects it onto the the state of law enforcement in general. The posted story tends to just be the jumping off point for the snide comments about law enforcement. Couple that with the fact that certain people seem to seek these stories out just to post them up and say "another isolated incident" really reinforces the point I'm trying to make. If a handful of people posted every story involving a bad soldier and then made comments about how it's the way they are trained and the quality of people they recruit and how most of them are just thugs in camo then I'm sure you'd get a little annoyed too. You obviously don't support bad soldiers but what if every story about a bad soldier turned into an attack on the military in general? I've tried many times to explain that to no avail, so as I said I'm just going to stay out of those threads from now on and let people fling what they will fling.

i would be damanding change from my elected officials like I do now about police policies. police have a direct roll over us. its a lot different. but bad soldiers actions should not be ignored either.

 

[Sylvain]

Unless you ban someone who is always posting posts and threads who are bashing cops I dont see how you will change things.
You just cant change people's mind.

 

[Hoosierdood]

Unfortunately, the discussion of LEO's is very similar to the discussion of politics, religion, abortion, OC vs CC, and Glock vs 1911. You have individuals with extremely strong views on the subject, and generally their opinion will not change throughout the discussion. You could do the same thing that you did with the religion topic and just make "cop-bashing" off limits, but then you add alot of responsibility to the mods. Another possibility is make a devoted "LEO Interactions" forum and all cop related discussion is limited to that forum. If people want to avoid cop-bashing, they just dont go there. Much like many avoid the political forum.

Bottom line, you aren't going to change people's opinions. So you must choose between continuing to allow it as it has been, eliminating it all together, or providing a specific place for it. Just my .02.

 

[E5RANGER375]

So, based on the OP, would you suggest any other remedy to the current state of affairs, besides not reading the threads?

I dont know how to get 2 groups of people together to fix a problem that one side doesnt believe exist, but yet the people are not happy over the problems they perceive as real. honestly is this a civilian gun owners forum or a forum that caters to govt employees? they can carry theres no matter what. I didnt see any current cops from INGO at the latest 4th amendment rally at the statehouse standing with us? come here as an individual or stay out of the threads you know your not gonna agree with. thats my solution past doing away with the political forum..

 

[9mmfan]

It comes down to this: some people are just ***holes!. They can be firefighters, city engineers, streetsweepers, bank tellers or a law enforcement officer. Unfortunately, bad LEO behavior gets magnified, especially on a forum like this. How many time has a thread started with "While i was changing a flat tire last night , a police officer stopped to help keep me safe from traffic". Not going to happen.

 

[E5RANGER375]

I agree Fenway my buddy was on here a very short time because he is impd and just felt like his profession was always being bashed. The LEO's on here are great contributors and I hate to see them ran off by a few that just feel like the LEO's are all crooked. I will admit there are a few bad apples but you have that in all professions.

I feel no pitty. they made their own forum where they bash us***,, so? should we call a town hall over there?