Thinking about Rojava as a model for US police abolition and what it would be like to have an armed volunteer civil protection force in this suburban neighborhood where only 3% of residents are Black and Trump banners fly on almost every lawn.

@aphyr not great!

@aphyr this is where I always end up falling apart on gun support — you just do not need guns to keep communities safe. They make shit worse and add violence.

@courtney okay but have you considered

@aphyr and I get that in the context being spoken about — communities that have experienced a great deal of military violence feel safer with guns in their hands. I don’t know if that actually is accurate (AK-47 vs an air strike?) but I get how it feels safer.

What I’m saying is: take all the guns away, from all sides, in the US. No cops with guns, no civilians with guns. They aren’t necessary for policing, they increase violence they don’t reduce it.

@courtney @aphyr then anyone who shows up with an ak47, legal or otherwise, gets to have their way with the city for a while. no thanks. (this happened in hollywood, remember?)

@sneak @aphyr hear me out: it would happen less if the money currently spent on militarizing cops went to community services

@courtney @aphyr i am pretty sure bank robbers with body armor and machine guns don't really care that much about community services. also, mass murderers intent on killing that ends in suicide. there is only one way to stop a mass murderer with a machine gun.