Of course, that's in an area more than 90,000 sq. miles (that's more than twice the size of many eastern states) bigger than the next three largest states, combined. FWIW.
Local Government Encourages Citizen To Arm Themselves
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That along with other reasons previously cited makes it sound like involving law enforcement at all is probably not a great idea.
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D.B. Cooper
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Well, as I mentioned earlier, there was a meeting (several in fact) last year to discuss the idea of creating a borough police department-something akin to a Sheriff's Dept in the lower 48, so as to relieve the State Troopers from policing the borough. (The AK State Troopers are actually supposed to do rural policing-as in remote villages accessible only air or river boat or snow machine (snow mobile to all you lower 48'ers lol). Anyway, the voters in the borough shot it down because they didn't want the tax increase that would come with it. So, to some degree, this is a problem of their own creation. But, like I said, it's a heavily Libertarian area.
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D.B. Cooper
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What I don't get about all of this is, like I said earlier, the self defense laws here are pretty craptastic. The bulk of the crime here is property crime. It's illegal to defend your property here. You pretty much have to just stand aside and watch your stuff be stolen. So, what really is the point of encouraging everyone to arm themselves against criminals when the state is going to jam you up if you use a firearm to stop a criminal.
KnightHawk
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As DB just point out rather than have the local Government tax you for a new Law Enforcement agency that as one poster put it that when Enforcement is needed “now” the Police are minutes away. Most Alaskans are pretty self reliant, so voting to not increase taxes for a service that probably will be ineffective is understandable.
As Caribou has pointed out on a good day Troopers are 45 minutes away at best. Key wording here “at best”.
Where I live is at least connected by the road system in the interior of Alaska and the Troopers unless patrolling in the area are at least 15 minutes to half an hour away. Most Alaskans I know would not consider Law Enforcement as a line of defense, but rather a response after the fact.
As Caribou has pointed out on a good day Troopers are 45 minutes away at best. Key wording here “at best”.
Where I live is at least connected by the road system in the interior of Alaska and the Troopers unless patrolling in the area are at least 15 minutes to half an hour away. Most Alaskans I know would not consider Law Enforcement as a line of defense, but rather a response after the fact.
Speedo66
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I pity their ears.They're encouraging firearms ownership by saying they encourage firearms ownership. It's all talk, no action, and expected from politicians.
Off topic, but linked in the article in the OP- it sounds like it was already working. A woman with a 44 mag against a burglar with a knife.
Wasilla woman kills home invader who stabbed husband, troopers say
Troopers say Justice Beaudoin-Martinez, 22, was burglarizing a home when the residents returned Sunday, leading to a fight in which he was shot.alaskapublic.org
buck460XVR
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Hard for me to believe anyone living in the remote bush in Alaska, would need to be told to have a firearm for protection. Besides the distances needed to be covered by so few LEOs, there is the weather and lack of access by road many times, that may turn police and emergency personnel from responding in not just hours, but days. Add to that, the extremely high rate of poverty along with alcohol and drug addiction in the state, and it is just a recipe for violence. When my sister and her family lived in Alaska, even in town, they always had a loaded gun within reach. If not for the criminals, for the bear and moose.
Perhaps the people of that borough don't agree with the way the law is. That's not an unusual situation in the rural areas of the country.
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D.B. Cooper
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Mat-Su really isn't "remote" Alaska. (definitely rural) Most people living there have access to roads that will connect them to small cities and, ultimately Anchorage (largest city in the state.) There is a small number of people who are in areas that require a plane or boat to get to.
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D.B. Cooper
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Not unusual, but also not relevant. Go outside the bounds of personal defense law and you're getting charged. I doubt the legal system cares if you agree with it or not.
caribou
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Years ago, Alaska went all "Vermont carry", and anybody can carry concealed" 'cept schools, bars, court houses and private places that people visibly post as gun restricted.
We cant shoot anyone, 'cept in defense of life or against violent offense to the person. When its your personal property getting messed with, I tend to let the inner Viking out and personally abuse the MF. Mostly, guys dont fight well when they know they been caught in the wrong.
Here is mostly petty alcohol related crime. Were a"dry' village, so go figure.....outsiders can be targeted for theft, especially stuff in boats or sleds, but in the village, theft among villagers is rare, and we know who "They" are, and keep 'em in check. For the younger, up and coming lazy **** teen theives or the super sneaky, Its mostly gasoline or snowmachine parts that are targeted....Ive pistol whipped a snowgo theifs face at 3AM ('Cause I couldnt shoot him and he wouldnt get off my ride, so I removed him) and spiked a few jugs of gasoline with isopropal alcohol and terminated the engines that are reason for the thievery. I still found out who did it, though.
We cant shoot anyone, 'cept in defense of life or against violent offense to the person. When its your personal property getting messed with, I tend to let the inner Viking out and personally abuse the MF. Mostly, guys dont fight well when they know they been caught in the wrong.
Here is mostly petty alcohol related crime. Were a"dry' village, so go figure.....outsiders can be targeted for theft, especially stuff in boats or sleds, but in the village, theft among villagers is rare, and we know who "They" are, and keep 'em in check. For the younger, up and coming lazy **** teen theives or the super sneaky, Its mostly gasoline or snowmachine parts that are targeted....Ive pistol whipped a snowgo theifs face at 3AM ('Cause I couldnt shoot him and he wouldnt get off my ride, so I removed him) and spiked a few jugs of gasoline with isopropal alcohol and terminated the engines that are reason for the thievery. I still found out who did it, though.
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That depends. Lot of variables.
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D.B. Cooper
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OK. Well. If you think you can shoot someone defending property and not get charged...I mean..good luck with that. That's not a conversation I'm willing to have.
I never said that. But, sounds good. Us having that discussion here wouldn't help anything.
AJC1
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An armed society is a polite society after the trash takes itself out...
BLACKHAWKNJ
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Interesting that an erstwhile western state would have such bad self defense laws.
That basic premise is the same in all of the states, eastern and western.
AlaskaErik
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The Matanuska-Susitna Borough is not 25 sq miles, it's 25,260 sq miles. To put it in better perspective, that's larger than the State of West Virginia.
The "k" in "25k" is an abbreviation for 1000.
Though I agree with the premise of the statement, it’s pretty much just a virtue signal. The Mat Su Borough doesn’t decide what will be prosecuted, and it doesn’t have the power to change Alaska’s laws on deadly force. The Borough doesn’t want to fund its own police force, and would be in competition with the Alaska State Troopers for candidates even if it did. The statement does nothing to reduce crime or make anyone safer.
Such things have to start somewhere.
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D.B. Cooper
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I said:I never said that. But, sounds good. Us having that discussion here wouldn't help anything.
And you said:
Your statement above insinuates that people don't agree with the law, so they're not going to follow the law. You didn't say it explicitly, but you certainly suggested it.
To which I replied:
And then you said:
Your statement above just reinforces your earlier statement and your earlier insinuations.
To which I replied:
Sooooooo yeah...you've been suggesting that because it's a rural area, and because people don't agree with the law, it might be possible to violate said law, as in some sort of Hatfield-McCoy Feud or some sort of Blair Mountain/Matewan, WV coal war. smh whatever.
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D.B. Cooper
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Yeah. Worse than some other states in which I've lived.
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D.B. Cooper
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I think every department in the state is having recruitment/staffing issues, not unlike probably every department in the nation over the past 5-10 years. We're fortunate in that we don't, as yet, have the mass public disdain for police and the defund movement that we see in the lower 48.
Well. Yeah.
Ignition Override
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No info is provided about where these Alaskan State Troopers are flying to.
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