I would like to hope so. Given the way some people are without guns however you would have to be an absolute fool to let them anywhere near a firearm.

That's exactly why there are people, special people, that we grant greater powers.
of course, if people have proven themselves to be capable, which is all police or military training does, is make one capable, of being more than just normally responsible around guns, then sure.

It's because of those exceptions, and there's more that may treat the weapon itself well but care nothing for human life than you might think, that there is to be gun regulation.
In such cases I would bring up the whole MAD thing again. They may have a short or long list of people they'd like to kill, but they're reasonable enough to not do so because they realize they'd probly die too, which isn't a very exciting prospect. I speak of course, ONLY for the US, outside of it, and many western countries, well....that's another debate.

I cannot speak for your uncle but what should have happened was for there to be an investigation by Internal Affairs or Ethical Standerds. Why was nothing done? Possibly lack of evidence. I can't imagine how...disappointed you are about your uncle, understandably it would lead to a mistrust in the authorities. I can assure you however that such people by the nature of the job would be rare.
As he tells it, he gets away with what he does, which is really only minor abuse, (but it only takes a spark to start a fire ya know?), because the other cops OK it. Like excessive speeding, he flashes his badge and he gets to go on his way. I don't think an internal investigation is warranted for all abuses. I think that what we need are other cop's who'd simply say "no" in such situations.

Exactly, they're there to maintain control. Which is why, and I'm completely serious here, people who go off about them or gun laws should see what it's like with mob rule.
I agree that they probly wouldn't like it. But we still need to keep "control" from becoming oppression, social change could accomplish this, but at a rate so slow, it's likly to get worse before it gets better.

I understand your concern about the government using police, military to turn the country, the world, into something like Star Wars or V for Vendetta. Since I discussed what Constable Evan had to say, being both Australian and an Aboriginal, a prime example would be the 'stolen generation' when children were taken from their parents and something similar has been brought into place. A couple of things to keep in mind with this. One is that the police are not basically kept in a cage until the government uses them like the military is. They actively keep the peace, enforce the law, ect. The other thing is things such as Iraq were bad, to be sure, and soldiers went along with it. Were they ordered to do something such as slaughter an entire village that they knew was not the enemy I would give people in the armed forces enough credit to know that such an act was wrong and they wouldn't go through with it.
I agree largely with what you're saying, though I think you strip some of the value of it by comparing it to Star Wars or V. The USSR is a good example, much of South America and Latin America, large portion of Africa and the Middle East are good examples of where "control" became oppression.