Chinese police propaganda poster (courtesy washingtonpost.com)

“No one knows how many people have been shot since officers began carrying guns four months ago because of government secrecy.” – Newly armed police in China say they fear their guns as much as public [via washingtonpost.com]

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

32 COMMENTS

  1. “Many patrol officers who are now carrying guns haven’t fired shot since the police academy, where each recruit is required to shoot five bullets, officers said. ”
    Wow

  4. “But local officers said that while they may not face prosecution, they often do face internal bureaucratic wrath whenever someone is shot. ”

    That sounds familiar.

  5. Hogwash. I believe almost nothing in that article; everything is spin or pseudo-fact.

    Searching for keywords give tens of thousands of results instead of a few hundred? How does that mean anything? It doesn’t mean there are tens of thousands of misuses of guns, it could mean a statistically insignificant one or two incidents that were widely covered. Maybe the state-run media wanted it that way, for whatever reason, we’ll never know. We only know what the Chinese govt wants us to know. Maybe misuse of force is down. Maybe this is a ploy to make people more afraid of cops over there. Or maybe they are misusing guns.

    The cops are afraid of guns? Really? The same cops who are so macho they don’t want guns so they can say they took down the BG without a gun? Huh?

    • “Searching for keywords give tens of thousands of results instead of a few hundred? How does that mean anything? It doesn’t mean there are tens of thousands of misuses of guns, it could mean a statistically insignificant one or two incidents that were widely covered. “

      {cough**Consensus**cough}

      We are reaping the benefits of the great Progressive education experiment. Sell the idea for decades that “popularity” is what truly matters (at the expense of data and rationality) in terms of mathematical and scientific thought, teach watered down statistics (if at all) and tell people, “Okay, now you are educated.”

      Then, you can write any hogwash you want and who can challenge it? “The Masses” believe they are mathematically “smart” and understand things like “data analysis.” So, if WaPo says something “mathy,” especially with a sprinkling of “popular,” well, it must be “true” and “meaningful” and…dare we say…”profound.”

      Base Rate Fallacy abounds around us…every single day it crops up. We have to be careful, though. We are not immune, of course. Lack of logical data analysis festers in just about every caliber war discussion and even DGU vs crime discussions. But, at least we mostly try to acknowledge the weakness.

    • The WaPo fails to note that since the end of WW II the People’s Liberation Army is the only organization routinely allowed to carry guns. Big city [paramilitary] police have only been routinely armed since the outbreak of “terrorist” activities in cities; before that they had to beat the crap out of criminals with batons. Not that the current military regime distrusts the police, mind you.

  6. Man, I really hate to say this but…. .22LR and variants are still rare in my area esp. at Wally World. With all the other ‘Made in China’ stuff that has flooded our market where is the ‘Made in China’ ammo?

    • Chinese guns and ammo were banned from import during, I believe, the Clinton administration? I could be wrong but I’m too lazy to look it up at the moment. In any case, they were banned, and probably won’t be unbanned in the foreseeable future.

    • According to the Wiki Hive Mind, the first ban was in 1993 by President Bill Clinton and it was a partial ban that still allowed Shotguns and 22lr type rifles.. However, “In August 2003, the Bush Administration imposed sanctions on Norinco for allegedly selling missile-related goods to Iran.[3] These sanctions led to a prohibition on imports into the US of the remaining types of firearms and ammunition not covered by the 1993 ban.”

      The 2004 ban pretty much killed the rest of the Chinese arms and ammo into the USA.

      So, first Clint and then “W” killed Chinese imports.

      • Under Reagan is when the ban on new made full-auto weapons being registered by citizens was enacted.

        Bush the younger had said that if a new assault weapons ban made it to his desk, he would have signed it.

        Republicans= statists; big government lovers, what ever you call them; they are just as much a danger to our freedoms and constitution as any Liberal/progressive.

        • In response to ThomasR, it is hard to tell but I think your comments are meant to be sarcasm?

          I think that a more accurate account would be:

          The Firearms Owners Protection Act was made to protect gun owners from excesses of the ATF and local laws by providing a framework to protect the rights of law abiding gun owners.

          The Act became “tainted” by Senate, Rep. William J. Hughes (D-N.J.) with amendments added. Including language for a “ban on new made full-auto weapons being registered by citizens”

          Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_Owners_Protection_Act

  7. Of course they aren’t familiar with firearms. This is the country that banned the sale of flowers and perfume, replaced all books that didn’t agree with Mao, etc. I’m sure there’s been several generations of that country that have never even seen a firearm in person. A government that operates the way they do, the last thing they want is guns everywhere.

  8. In a country that runs down unarmed protesters with tanks, what exactly are the police worried about?

  9. Well if the Chinese cops are that scared of using their firearms, I’d be willing to bet the number of people shot by Chinese cops is pretty low.

  10. This is hilarious. 400 to 400000 in 1 year? I’ve also read the Chinese military is a halfassed paper tiger. Lots of atomic weapons though. Yikes…

    • I’ve also read the Chinese military is a halfassed paper tiger.

      Sure, just like before the Korean War. Anyone that can throw half a billion people at anyone else isn’t a “halfassed paper tiger” in my book.

  11. “Newly armed police in China say they fear their guns as much as public”

    Could be:

    1. Armed police in China fear their guns as much as they fear the public

    or

    2. Armed police in China fear their guns as much as the public fears guns

  12. I speak Chinese. Let me interpret: “internal bureaucratic wrath”…means ” extended paid leave”.

  13. And Harry Truman should have nuked the Chinese hoards on the Yalu river. Something about Russia and world opinion. Oh-and not giving a damn about DEAD American soldiers. Even though we had a near monopoly in 1950…

  14. I’m currently in Beijing, I’ve seen a bunch of the armed police and some of them look pretty disciplined while others have no clue on how to handle the gun. I’ll see if I can’t get some pictures, maybe even do a guest post. But no guarantees, don’t go out much since work, even if it’s an internship, is pretty demanding. But then again, I’m here for a year.

Comments are closed.