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Comment on Are Cameras the New Guns?parent

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When the police act as though cameras were the equivalent of guns pointed at them, there is a sense in which they are correct

I've never heard of a policeman acting as though a camera was the equivalent of a gun. If you disagree, try pointing an actual gun at an armed policeman and see what happens.

These anti-camera laws are stupid, but the analogy to guns is silly. A better analogy would be "are cameras the new penises", because pointing one of those at a policeman will get you cautioned and possibly arrested but not shot.

The analogy holds in terms of harm. Point a gun at them and they might end up in the hospital or morgue. Point a camera at them and they might end up in jail. Point a penis at them and they will come to no direct harm if they ignore it; they might get sanctioned for not stopping a disturbance of the peace, but that's a very different thing than the other three outcomes.

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