Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

January 13 , 2010

Charlie Mitchener, a contractor from Las Vegas, has endured several burglaries, the most recent occuring on January 3 of this year.

Complying with a request from the responding police officer, Mitchener provided personal identification and a copy of his firearms permit. Before determining if the area was secure, the police officer ordered Mitchener to surrender his personal firearm and submit to being handcuffed. This was supposedly done, the officer said, to make sure ?that we [are] all safe.?

As Mitchener pointed out to Vin Suprynowicz of the Las Vegas Review-Journalpointed out to Vin Suprynowicz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, this may have made the officer feel safer, but it put his own life in jeopardy. If the burglar had still be on-site, the handcuffed and disarmed civilian wouldn?t have been able to protect himself.

For the police, ?officer safety? is always the first consideration. Mitchener?s experience is particularly significant in that it demonstrates how police are taught to regard armed citizens as potential enemies.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.