"When should you shoot a cop?"

"Should". That's a pretty loaded word.

Somehow I ended up on some Tea Party mailing list. The email I got from them most recently mentions a flyer (which has been blamed on Tea Party activists) that asks the question "When should you shoot a cop?"

I can't tell you when you "should" shoot a cop, but I can tell you when you would be ethically justified in shooting one: Whenever that is the best way to stop one from violating your life, liberty, or property, or to prevent the same from being committed against someone you have accepted responsibility for. In other words, exactly the same conditions that justify the shooting of any other individual. The "job" gives no immunity from "natural law" even as it gives some immunity from statutory "law".

The "should" is up to your own assessment of the situation.

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