DS9: Business as Usual

[bguy]

I don't know if Guinan counts. A) she is on a military vessel that routinely gets boarded by invaders and B) she isn't a Federation citizen so the rules may be different for her. Remember how some Bajorans are allowed to wear earrings and some aren't? Captain's favouritism seems to be law. (A) also goes for Kevin AND the farmer from Broken Bow because he predates the Federation.

Kevin wasn't on a military vessel. He was a civilian living on a Federation colony.

[clearspira]

I don't know if Guinan counts. A) she is on a military vessel that routinely gets boarded by invaders and B) she isn't a Federation citizen so the rules may be different for her. Remember how some Bajorans are allowed to wear earrings and some aren't? Captain's favouritism seems to be law. (A) also goes for Kevin AND the farmer from Broken Bow because he predates the Federation.

Kevin wasn't on a military vessel. He was a civilian living on a Federation colony.

I was misrembering but the point still stands: he isn't Federation.

[Yukaphile]

There's also the fact he was an omnipotent being, but people thought he was a Federation citizen, and he went to Rana IV registered as one.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

And like I said, whatever favoritism Picard shows to his crew it does not extend to serious violations of the law or Starfleet protocol. Remember The First Duty, where he told Wesley in no uncertain terms that if he didn't admit to what Nova Squad actually did that got a cadet killed Picard would present the damning evidence himself? And Wesley is almost like a son to him! Or at least, that's what the writers intended. Picard having some discretion over how tightly his officers have to adhere to the uniform code is not the same thing as him turning a blind eye towards a civilian owning contraband on his ship.

This doesn't necessarily seem like being staunch on rules and protocol but maybe teaching Wesley about accountability for his character.

[Formless One]

This doesn't necessarily seem like being staunch on rules and protocol but maybe teaching Wesley about accountability for his character.

That's not exactly the point I was making. Its precisely the fact Picard is holding Wesley accountable rather than turning a blind eye to both the fact of what Nova Squad did and their attempts to cover it up that proves he doesn't play favorites even with his close friends. He did the same thing with Riker in "The Pegasus" when he insisted that if Riker did anything to endanger the ship, even if it was under the Admiral's orders, he would have to reevaluate the ship's command structure. His trust in Riker was based on Riker earning that trust, not blind faith in him because they were friends. And he wasn't happy about having to put Riker in the brig when Riker turned himself in for abetting Pressman in violating the treaty, but he did it anyway. I can't think of a single time that one of Picard's crew did something wrong and he didn't call them out on it or otherwise act in a manner to hold them accountable. Its just not Picard's way. He is principled enough to know which rules must be upheld. That's why he is the hero of the show.

In comparison, the dress code stuff is something we are shown he actually has discretion on because of his rank-- he's not actually violating any rules by allowing Worf to wear his sash or Ro to wear earrings. Indeed, Worf has many sashes, including one for formal occasions. Picard's a command rank officer, and he has the ability to make exceptions for his crew since it is technically an exploration vessel, and he's proud of being more of an explorer than a soldier. And do note that when Captain Jelllico ordered Troi to start wearing the standard uniform when on duty, Picard apparently never rescinds that order because Troi continues to wear a uniform for the rest of the series whenever she is on the bridge. She didn't get in trouble because she had previously been granted an exception, but after Jellico rescinds it I guess Picard agreed that it was a good idea in her case (being in uniform seems to do good things for her professionalism and competence-- just don't have her fly the ship).

[Yukaphile]

The flagship is a combination military, scientific, and cultural ship - if you can ignore Season 2's smug protests to the contrary. So as a part-military vessel, my feeling is there'd be regulations if civilians want to bring guns on board, even if that's something as simple as being at the discretion of the captain. I do think given they could be going into any number of hostile situations, and we hear over the years of civilians having psychology degrees, or medical training, it might be logical special circumstances are given to those who can be allowed to have a gun permit. Guinan may be such a character, given she owns what is the local bar.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

The flagship is a combination military, scientific, and cultural ship - if you can ignore Season 2's smug protests to the contrary. So as a part-military vessel, my feeling is there'd be regulations if civilians want to bring guns on board, even if that's something as simple as being at the discretion of the captain. I do think given they could be going into any number of hostile situations, and we hear over the years of civilians having psychology degrees, or medical training, it might be logical special circumstances are given to those who can be allowed to have a gun permit. Guinan may be such a character, given she owns what is the local bar.

Yeah I was thinking the same thing about non-sanctioned inhabitants of the ship having weapons.

[pilight]

Given that the sniper rifle from Field of Fire could be made using nothing but a replicator, their laws would have to adapt to keep up with the existence of such a disruptive manufacturing technology. They probably can't implement weapon laws as restrictive as in Britain and other EU countries. That's the problem with introducing something like replicators into the story.

I'd imagine they have laws restricting what replicators can be programmed to create, or at least limiting the replication of certain items to Star Fleet personnel.

OTOH, with the Federation's weak system security an unscrupulous person could probably replicate a prohibited item without much trouble.

[Robovski]

You just shift some isolinear chips and *bam* you can replicate whatever you want. I guess the Feds expect you to not bypass security and they usually have triple back-ups for everything.

[Yukaphile]

Who's to say they can replicate it? Given all the other stuff they can't replicate we've seen over the years, including stuff like genetic ribosomes and vaccines?