The “Thin Blue Line” and More ~ A Message from ISRA’s Executive Director

Thin Blue Line Flag
Thin Blue Line Flag Original Image by M. Zalewski “Mrkoww” [email protected]
Illinois State Rifle Association
Illinois State Rifle Association

Chatsworth, IL -(AmmoLand.com)- We have been watching another American city, Milwaukee, set to the torch because of civil unrest.

The problems in Milwaukee are not different than those in other major cities, the causes of which I have addressed before. We cozy up in our favorite chair and watch the professionals handle it on our favorite news broadcast. We never think about how many of those professionals there are and what would happen to us if they couldn’t show up. The reason it is called the “Thin Blue Line” is because there is a finite number of them, something many don’t like to think about.

At any one time there are about 184,000 policemen on duty, including command staff. That is equivalent to one for about 2,070 people, or one policemen. That is ok as long as everything goes well. The problem is that it is not going very well. When the fabric of society begins to tear apart as it is in Milwaukee and has in other cities, like Baltimore or Ferguson, Missouri, police have to leave their normal areas and concentrate on the problem. I remember when Princess Diana came to Chicago and the Chicago Police Department pulled police out of their normal areas to protect her. Guess what? Crime went up in all those areas. There are only so many policemen and overtime hours they can work. What do you suppose is going to happen when there is a big event, or more than one event? You are going to be on your own and you are not ready. Once again, I implore you to get training and prepare yourself.

Last week in Buffalo Grove, there was a home invasion involving two masked men. These two guys stabbed the homeowner, his two children and the family dog. Fortunately, the home owner was able to grab his handgun and the two fled after he fired one shot. Suppose the homeowner had not had a gun? The story would have ended much more tragically. The police eventually apprehended one of the men, William Jacob Beeman. Beeman was apparently out on bail after assaulting a police officer. Beeman had also been in prison on a prior conviction, and returned to prison twice for breaking parole. The obvious question is why is this guy out on the streets, but we don’t want to bring that up because we have to be concerned for the poor violent thug, after all. If this story doesn’t convince you that you need to be ready to defend yourself and your loved ones, nothing will.

I understand firearm sales remain high and I expect them to continue that way. If you are thinking about a purchase, I would do it now.

Congratulations to Kim Rhode, our Olympic Bronze medal winner in shotgun. Kim is the first athlete to win an individual medal at six straight Summer Olympics. Big news in Olympic history, but you would never know it by watching, reading or listening to the mainstream media.

Thanks for being a member.

Check out ISRA’s website at www.isra.org! Tell us what you think!

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About Illinois State Rifle Association:

The ISRA is the state’s leading advocate of safe, lawful and responsible firearms ownership. Since 1903, the ISRA has represented the interests of over 1.5 million law-abiding Illinois firearm owners.

For more information, visit: www.isra.org.

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Jeffersonian

Why should I be supportive of people whose primary job seems to be robbing the innocent at implied gunpoint, under made-up laws, while rarely if ever doing anything to defend the innocent from real criminals?

Why do we even *have* police if they steal more from us than the ones they claim to be protecting us from?

Adam Stevenson

Agreed. As far as I am concerned the thin blue line group are guilty of defacing my country’s flag and I take that as personally and consider it as offensive as the anti-American politicians in Washington consistently belittling and raping our Constitution. The worst criminals I have ever met in person were all (aside from one individual ) LEOs. On the flip side I have yet to meet an LEO in person that I did trust or that didn’t come off like a big bully. For the record, not all of my encounters have been such that the officer in… Read more »

Dave Brown

The Thin Blue Line, or Brotherhood is fine provided it doesn’t go to far as in protecting our own when they have lost the right to protection. The Line is way beyond any form of usefulness to us that they are suppose to be serving and protecting. Time to re-think the training, and that starts at the Top.

marc disabled vet

House Cleaning Needs to be done everywhere, not just with,
law enforcement . Allow them to clean their houses first before,
any inspections are done. Then like in the Military, see if they are,
At the Ready when you inspect without warning !
They Have a Lot on their plates that they didn’t ask for,
and frankly I Don’t think came with the job Discription .

RidgeRunner51

With due respect to all LEOs & the “Thin Blue Line”, WHY must the police maintain their “Code of Silence”? Why protect any bad actors within their ranks? Is there any reason to hid, from the tax Payers Who Pay Their Salaries, how they are performing their duties? This is a very difficult position to justify — without twisting some truths. This can’t happen on other jobs, nor in other professions. The motto “To Protect & Serve” seems to only apply to the police themselves.