The Aldrich Alert Gary Aldrich
A Publication of the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty

Stricter Gun Control For Law Enforcement Agents!

by Gary Aldrich - Volume 1 Issue 14

An important event occurs, and sometimes a photographic image is made that becomes etched into the minds of Americans. This past Saturday such a photograph was taken that will be remembered for decades to come because of its stark depiction of terror, but also because it unmistakably captures Bill Clinton’s true legacy - the abuse of federal power.

A young Chinese student standing defiantly in front of a row of tanks at Tiananmen Square. A naked Vietnamese child running down a road, screaming from burns alleged to have been caused by U. S. napalm. A young family sitting in front of a TV, watching the Kennedy-Nixon debates. These are images that we as a people agree capture and shape our American culture. We know collectively there is something about certain photographs that tell an entire story, that becomes symbolic of what we are thinking, or captures a national mood.

And, such pictures produce consequences. For example, the picture of a Kent State student cradling the head of her slain fellow student war protester became a big part of the evidence that drove Richard Nixon from office. Nixon didn’t pull the triggers on those National Guards’ rifles, but he might as well have. The New-Left, of which Bill and Hillary Clinton were a part, made much use of the so-called Kent State "Massacre." As a nation, we agreed that the use of such dramatic and deadly force in domestic situations was dangerous, and should never be used without careful consideration. We agreed human beings are prone to mistakes that can create disastrous human consequences.

Like what happened at Waco, for example.

So, it is only fitting that Bill Clinton wear Saturday’s photograph of little Elian Gonzales around his neck like a scarlet letter. What happened Saturday is very symbolic of what always happens when ultimate power is corrupted. It’s also what happens when good men fail to do nothing.

For example, good men and women in the U. S. Senate had a chance to protect us from paramilitary forces without warrants breaking down doors, seizing young children at gunpoint with fully automatic weapons brandished about, as if major drug rings and organized crime cartels were being assaulted. But the U. S. Senate, ignoring Waco and other evidence of a corrupted and twisted administration, did nothing. They allowed Bill Clinton to stay in office.

But there is another important matter to discuss. We need to decide just how much domestic paramilitary force we will tolerate as a free people. I was a federal law enforcement officer for 26 years. Yes, I worried about my safety, and so did my wife and family. But if I wanted to avoid any and all danger, I would not have become a law officer in the first place. FBI agents wore suits with firearms concealed underneath, unless there was a clear and present danger. But we were required to show good evidence of a clear and present danger before we grabbed for the shotguns and automatic rifles!

Firemen would never enter a burning building to save anybody’s life if they adopted the same mentality as some in our law enforcement institutions have embraced in the name of officers’ safety. There has to be a balance, and that balance was upset on Saturday, no matter how you look at it.

There was absolutely no justification for the show of force on display last Saturday. Yes, it was a successful snatch. Yes, nobody got killed. But an entire nation and a little six-year-old boy became traumatized by the reality of what our law enforcement has become, and how it can be misused.

This was a child custody case! Fully automatic weapons, helmets, flack suits and face masks? Where is the adult leadership who would have counseled wisely to handle this sensitive matter another, safer way? Where is the protective "village" when we need it the most? The answer is, they are nowhere to be found in the Clinton/Gore Administration.

I thought we had learned our lessons when more than 20 children burned to death at Waco. I guess we learned nothing much.