A reminder that gun violence by private individuals is not the only kind Americans have to worry about

Ryan Devereaux reports in Ramarley Graham's family sues NYPD on anniversary of teen's shooting death The Guardian 02/03/2013:

After shooting dead an unarmed teenager in his bathroom, a New York City police officer threatened to kill the boy's distraught grandmother, a newly filed lawsuit alleges.

Filed Friday, a day before the one-year anniversary of the death of 18-year-old Ramarley Graham, the suit accuses the NYPD of improperly training its officers, disproportionately targeting minority youth through its controversial stop and frisk practices and covering up the facts surrounding the death. ...

Haste was charged with first and second degree manslaughter in June. He is the first serving NYPD officer to face criminal charges for a fatal shooting since 2006. The four-year veteran of the force faces a maximum of sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.

As always, individual cases can be exceptionally complicated.

But the reality of police violence and misconduct is something American citizens can't afford to ignore.

Banning the private possession of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines as Sen. Diane Feinstein's Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 proposes won't directly affect police misconduct. But reducing the number of assault weapons would improve conditions for those demanding more police accountability and improved conduct, because it would materially lessen the risk of cop killings.

Tags: assault weapons ban, gun control, gun massacres, gun proliferation