Police Use of Firearms...Off Duty

During the day yesterday I was messing around on Twitter and I got this interesting question in the form of a request to vote in an poll.  The question was "should cops be able to carry their badge and gun while off the clock?"

To answer that I have to assume two things. 

1. The question is asking about government issued equipment
2. That equipment being misused on off duty hours as well as the identification being misused.

Unfortunately I have to look at the fact that abuse of power in law enforcement has been a bad problem most everywhere in the US for decades and we've seen some pretty bad examples of it over the past couple of years, which im not going to list here for time and space sake.

But on duty is not really the question here.  The question is really the use of government issued equipment being used and potentially misused off the clock. 

I would say, and emphatically, no!  Police officers should not be allowed to carry their issued equipment off duty because that equipment is not issued to them for their personal use.  Its issued to them for the expressed use while on duty (and of course sometimes even that gets abused)

What I think should happen is that all guns and badges of police officers should be kept under lock and key at the station the officer is stationed at, when each they are off duty, and then returned to them at the beginning of their next shift.  Always the same badge and gun so they can keep the officer accountable for the care of those two specific Items, but outside of patrolling and emergency calls, those items should not leave the building or be taken home with the officer at the end of his shift.

If the officer, outside of his job, is additionally properly authorized to carry a personal weapon via the gun licensing laws that everyone else not in his job has to abide and is properly licensed to do so, then he can carry that.  Government issued should always mean "NOT for personal use"  And in my opinion, Carrying your badge for work is like me wearing my old Circle K uniform everywhere during my leisure time on my day off when I didn't even go into work in the first place.  You just dont.