novasig226r
Regular Member
imported post
I know this subject has been beaten to death, but I was tossing the idea of badges around in my head. I'd like to discuss a few of those ideas and see if anyone sees logic in my thought.
(I am not advocating anyone rush and buy a "steenkin badgers" and, no, I don't have one - geesh.) :banghead:
In most forums where I read posts about badges, I see the common retort: "Badges are for LEOs." But that statement isn't 100% accurate in any regard. Yes, police wear a badge. We all know this.
However:
1) Private Investigators
2) Protection Specialists (a.k.a. "bodyguards")
3) Bail Enforcement Agents (a.k.a. "bounty hunters")
4) Security guards (armed or not)
5) Armored car personnel (Brinks, Loomis, Wells Fargo, etc)
6) Geek Squad
7) Exterminators (i.e. pest/insect/rodent control)
8) Strippers at a bachelor party "arresting" the groom-to-be
The idea that a badge is only carried by "the law" is false. No one assumes that any of the above listed groups impersonate a law enforcement official. Geek Squad, for example, is a computer repair service and their uniforms (at first glance or two) can resemble a security guard or cop, but they don't get hassled over their badge.
Perhaps it's because their badges don't say "Police" on them?
Security guards wear a badge (and some are authorized to carry a gun). They aren't "cops". Their authority is only on the property to which they are guarding. (They can even carry handcuffs.) Their badges usually say "Security Officer".
A bail enforcement agent wears a badge (and sometimes they carry guns). No one would argue that some of the characters they are chasing are dangerous, and some form of shiny ID would be helpful (if only to passersby). And they aren't impersonating an officer.
Yet when a gun owner says "what about a badge?" people freak and tell them to go to the academy and earn a badge. "Don't do it, you'll be impersonating an officer." "Don't do it, you'll be a mall ninja."
All the groups listed above wear a badge. Those among them who carry a gun aren't looked at sideways. People don't wonder, "Why is that person packing a gun?" Just as people don't wonder about police wearing a gun, security guards are not put under a microscope my Joe Q. Public and his family visiting the mall.
I thought, "well, if I had a CHP badge on my belt next to my gun, maybe people will not be 'scared of the big bad gun '." If they think I'm a cop, that's their own problem - I've never asserted myself to be, nor portrayed myself as, a police officer. A CHP/CCW badge does not say POLICE and if I don't claim/assert/pretend/suggest that I am a cop, then I'm not impersonating anyone. Heck, if I had black pants and a black tie, and a white button down shirt, I'd look like a Geek Squad "agent" - I'd just have a different tool on my belt.
A common reply is that "the badge symbolizes authority bestowed on the individual". Perhaps, but what authority does Geek Squad have? A security guard? A bounty hunter? Depending on your location, some of these professions aren't regulated at all. If anything, a law-abiding citizen carrying a gun and a badge, simply says, "Yes, I am allowed to have this firearm on me. Leave me alone already!"
So what's the fuss?
:shock:
I know this subject has been beaten to death, but I was tossing the idea of badges around in my head. I'd like to discuss a few of those ideas and see if anyone sees logic in my thought.
(I am not advocating anyone rush and buy a "steenkin badgers" and, no, I don't have one - geesh.) :banghead:
In most forums where I read posts about badges, I see the common retort: "Badges are for LEOs." But that statement isn't 100% accurate in any regard. Yes, police wear a badge. We all know this.
However:
1) Private Investigators
2) Protection Specialists (a.k.a. "bodyguards")
3) Bail Enforcement Agents (a.k.a. "bounty hunters")
4) Security guards (armed or not)
5) Armored car personnel (Brinks, Loomis, Wells Fargo, etc)
6) Geek Squad
7) Exterminators (i.e. pest/insect/rodent control)
8) Strippers at a bachelor party "arresting" the groom-to-be
The idea that a badge is only carried by "the law" is false. No one assumes that any of the above listed groups impersonate a law enforcement official. Geek Squad, for example, is a computer repair service and their uniforms (at first glance or two) can resemble a security guard or cop, but they don't get hassled over their badge.
Perhaps it's because their badges don't say "Police" on them?
Security guards wear a badge (and some are authorized to carry a gun). They aren't "cops". Their authority is only on the property to which they are guarding. (They can even carry handcuffs.) Their badges usually say "Security Officer".
A bail enforcement agent wears a badge (and sometimes they carry guns). No one would argue that some of the characters they are chasing are dangerous, and some form of shiny ID would be helpful (if only to passersby). And they aren't impersonating an officer.
Yet when a gun owner says "what about a badge?" people freak and tell them to go to the academy and earn a badge. "Don't do it, you'll be impersonating an officer." "Don't do it, you'll be a mall ninja."
All the groups listed above wear a badge. Those among them who carry a gun aren't looked at sideways. People don't wonder, "Why is that person packing a gun?" Just as people don't wonder about police wearing a gun, security guards are not put under a microscope my Joe Q. Public and his family visiting the mall.
I thought, "well, if I had a CHP badge on my belt next to my gun, maybe people will not be 'scared of the big bad gun '." If they think I'm a cop, that's their own problem - I've never asserted myself to be, nor portrayed myself as, a police officer. A CHP/CCW badge does not say POLICE and if I don't claim/assert/pretend/suggest that I am a cop, then I'm not impersonating anyone. Heck, if I had black pants and a black tie, and a white button down shirt, I'd look like a Geek Squad "agent" - I'd just have a different tool on my belt.
A common reply is that "the badge symbolizes authority bestowed on the individual". Perhaps, but what authority does Geek Squad have? A security guard? A bounty hunter? Depending on your location, some of these professions aren't regulated at all. If anything, a law-abiding citizen carrying a gun and a badge, simply says, "Yes, I am allowed to have this firearm on me. Leave me alone already!"
So what's the fuss?
:shock:
