The Left Feasting on Dead Heros in Santa Cruz*

 *or never let an emergency go to waste

Sorry about the gruesome title, but it took little time for the Santa Cruz left to try and use the death of two police officers to forward their agenda; remember to the left/ collectivists there is only the agenda. These are the first to join in when there are complaints of excessive force and/or other constitutional violations voiced by the vocal minority. This shown in it's full fruition in the 1997  after the "Happy" John Dine Shooting. John Dine was a homeless subject with many documented mental issues. Dine had obtained a plastic replica pistol, which his friends later said he had told them we had gotten for protection. On November 12th, Dine was seen flashing the gun on the Pacific Garden Mall and the police were called. Dine was contacted by several police officers and one of them shot Dine dead when he pointed the gun at him. The end result was the officer was put through the ringer, with a constant barrage of lies, usually revolving around that the plastic gun was a police plant and that Dine was simply murdered by the police officer for no reason. The fact that this story makes no sense at all, still didn't draw any support from the left as any day a police officer can be shown in a bad light is a good day for them. In the below letter the writer says she is the wife of a retired police officer; one wonders if he is as hopeful for a police state as she is.

It's Time to Get Guns off the street  
Thursday, the people of Santa Cruz and from across California gathered to mourn the loss of two police officers who were shot to death at close range by a man they were investigating. One was the mother of two young children. The other was a longtime veteran whose own son is now a community service officer in the same city. This senseless act is yet another counterpoint to the NRA's defense of the right to bear arms and flies in the face of the ludicrous statement made by NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre that "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." Not so Mr. Pierre! My husband is a retired Seattle police officer/detective, who investigated the same kind of crimes as these two slain officers. He was lucky, but we cannot rely on luck alone. The bottom line is we need to get semi-automatic weapons off the streets and ensure that tight regulations and background checks are in place for anyone who wishes to own a gun. No police officer should ever again have to walk into a situation like the fallen two from Santa Cruz. My heart goes out to the families of Elizabeth Butler and Butch Baker.  Rebecca Levy, Aptos

My response: Rebecca you are simply a coward and your post is an insult to law enforcement. Not every tragedy should be fodder for a anti-gun rant from the left. Your remark, "No police officer should ever again have to walk into a situation like the fallen two from Santa Cruz" is hopelessly self serving, as if you and your love of a paternal and protective government can re-define reality with a gun ban. We the police are public safety officers; we are the thin blue line between you and the criminals and no gun ban will ever change that. The idea that computers will some how eliminate violent crime is based on the naive belief that all crime is about the most intelligent way to steal money; I've got news for you, holding up a liquor store or mugging a guy in the park, are high risk and low profit crimes, yet they are the most common. When the gun fire starts and everyone is running away, the police will be rolling code 3 right to the heart of the problem; it's what we want do, it's what we are trained for and we do it so you don't have to sacrifice your individual rights to be safe..