Criminals, beware: Officers will carry assault rifle Colt AR-15

Miami Herald ^ | Apr. 26, 2005 | Miami Herald

[TChris]

Why would you want to shoot a bankrobber during the fluid and dynamic nature of a robbery? There are lots of people around, streets crowded, and LEO's who have homes to go to with children who need them.

Good heavens, man! Did you miss the bank-robbery-turned-shootout of North Hollywood, CA in 1997? That provided plenty of reasons, 44 minutes worth.

Yes, I understand your post was just an anti-LEO tirade. So be it.

[libstripper]

The only people who ever called the civilian AR-15 an "assault rifle" are the evil ones who concocted the now defunct "assault weapons" ban and their uninformed, ignorant, nitwit followers.

[Billthedrill]

Uh...that picture...it isn't what it appears to be, is it? Please tell me they didn't manage to insert the magazine that way. Please?

[Tallguy]

Let me guess. The police chief wants to arm his officers with semi-auto rifles. In any sane world, this would be a reasonable request that would get honored by the city if they found it necessary. But these ninnies in St. Pete are so scared and ignorant about firearms that they are:

1. Making the cops buy the weapons out of their own pockets, and
2. Forcing them to deploy the weapon with so many restrictions that it will never get used.

God help the first officer who has a .223 round go astray.

[Bon mots]

I'd like to know the follow-up to that little incident... was the suspect wounded? Was the female officer fired, reprimanded, applauded, etc...

I don't know. I think I heard somewhere else that he got hit in the arm, but I cannot confirm this information. Maybe someone else knows?

[Teacher317]

Cops just love to spend money on toys they don't need.

And the militarization of the police continues apace.

[blackdog]

I have no anti-LEO slant. As a matter of fact, I say I support them in a manner closer to their own interests. It's just a bank and it's just money. C'mon, Enron executives stole a thousand times what is stolen from banks during retail robberies. If robbery justifies gunfire, go shoot up the boardrooms of America's corporations!

Get rid of armed guards inside the banks too. A criminal does not just go into a place and starts shooting up the place just for fun?

That situation in LA which was a great movie by the way, was caused by armed intervention. The response was just more than the interventionists bargained for, and was something the criminals had prepared for.

[Teacher317]

if the Miami cops had really wanted effective weapons for dealing with perps wearing body armor

Butbutbutbut... it's illegal for felons to wear body armor. Therefore, the population is safe from e-e-e-e-evil defensive-wear, and the police are better able to kill us all! Everything's as it should be! Right?

/Lib-"think">

[blackdog]

We need to rethink the idea of sending police officers to banks, responding to a silent alarm or report of robbery, in a role of fixing the robbery or crime. That's not what police should be doing. It puts you and I and the poor cops in perril.

Since when do the percieved needs of corporations trump the personal safety of individuals on the street? Next time, North Hollywood banks should call the cops only after.....the criminals leave! Either that or arm each teller with a sawed off bitch 12 guage. It's not the cops job to be dial-a-shootout!

[TChris]

If robbery justifies gunfire, go shoot up the boardrooms of America's corporations!

If I couldn't comprehend the difference between robbery and theft or embezzlement, then I'd buy a good dictionary.

A criminal does not just go into a place and starts shooting up the place just for fun?

Is that a question?

I'd say that bank robbers shoot up the place to get money, eliminate witnesses and suppress resistance. Maybe I'm wrong.

That situation in LA which was a great movie by the way, was caused by armed intervention.

Fascinating! So, the correct answer to increasing bank robberies is... Do nothing! Hell, put out a neon sign advertising the fact. That way, the robbers will just leave their guns home and won't hurt anyone. Maybe we could even bus them to the banks so the low-income robbers would have an equal chance. Better yet, why not just have them sign up for the program over the Internet, and deliver the cash to their door! That's real service.

Why aren't you a criminology professor? You could have the whole country's crime problems solved in a day or two!

[blackdog]

Banks have so little cash on hand anymore. Bank robberies from 1990 thru 2000 were down 75% from the prior decade according to a report I read back in 2000. I need to call my bank two business days in advance if I'm going to cash a check for $2,000 or more or I am turned away because they had not ordered enough cash for the balance of needs.

Again, why would anyone in their right mind call the police to stop a robbery in progress? In the town I grew up in, which shared it's border with urban Philly, a few of my neighbors were cops who would respond to robberies at our grocery store or bank. They'd be on duty, at home responding to the radio call. The good thing is that they finished their dinner before putting the cruiser into drive. I commend their sensibilities. Now had the calls come in as "shots fired", that's different. No need to force a call into "shots fired"

[Dogrobber]

Big Whoop. My city has been using "patrol" riflemen for five years.

[em2vn]

A couple of questions. What 30 cal. round does the carbine fire if not the 06? How many rounds do you think you need in an urban setting? You aren't humping gear on a LERPS patrol and support can be on scene pretty quick.
My choice for knock down power is the .308 but considering an urban setting I would take the 7.62X39 to protect nearby citizens. Real close I prefer OO buck or deer slugs.

[Doctor Stochastic]

'Only police are qualified to carry guns indeed.'

Police, like teachers, need only be certified, not qualified. "Only police are certified to carry guns."

[Deguello]

Big woo. LEO's in Dalworthington Gardens, Texas carry H&K MP5's in their cars and motorcycles.

They last directed them in anger on a drunk guy out on Pappy Elkins lake last summer. He refused to quit drinking beer while out in his rubber raft fishing.

[CATravelAgent]

"Indeed they would, but personally I'd prefer a BAR"

Pick up a semi-auto Remington 7400 chambered for 30.06. Ten round clips are available. No pistol grip so it's under the radar of "assault" weapons bans. And they're cheap, like under $500!

[blackdog]

Sorry buddy, it's just not sexy to be a cop unless you can act in an entirely irresponsible manner behind the wheel, hammer, or body armor.

But it is how it should be. I want each law enforcement officer to spend a day working as safe and injury free as possible. I also feel this way because the proliferation of injury once a cop is threatened or injured becomes exponential toward the public.

Nobody can outrun a radio, database search, credit report, facial recognition program, telephone call, cell phone, video monitor doing a taping, or the clerk at the DMV.

[TChris]

No need to force a call into "shots fired"

You're absolutely right. Those banks had best get that "free cash home delivery" website up and running soon. No more robberies; problem solved! No more nasty guns and people getting hurt and all that.

In fact, why arrest and prosecute robbers at all? ...or muggers? ...or home-invasion burglars? ...or car-jackers? I mean, they all just try to get away, then they hurt people and stuff. Why have police at all? All they do is stress people out and make them violent.

[GarySpFc]

A couple of questions. What 30 cal. round does the carbine fire if not the 06? How many rounds do you think you need in an urban setting? You aren't humping gear on a LERPS patrol and support can be on scene pretty quick. My choice for knock down power is the .308 but considering an urban setting I would take the 7.62X39 to protect nearby citizens. Real close I prefer OO buck or deer slugs.

The original request for a compact and lightweight shoulder arm to replace service handguns for second-line (non-fighting) troops was first issued by US Army in 1938. The idea behind this request was that a shoulder arm, such as carbine, firing ammunition of moderate power, will have more effective range and will be much simpler to train the users to fire it accurately, than the standard .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol or revolver. This request was probably the first recognition of the need in the Personal Defense Weapon in the modern sense. Request was shelved for some time and re-issued in 1940. It included the new cartridge of .30 caliber but of power far less than of US general issue .30-06 ammunition. The cartridge, officially named the "cartridge, ball, .30 caliber, M1", was developed by the Winchester company. It was a straight-case, rimless design with round-nose bullet weighting 110 grains (7.1 gram) and muzzle velocity of 1860 fps (~ 570 m/s). Muzzle energy was about 2 times more than of .45ACP pistol cartridge but still almost 3 times less than of .30-06 rifle cartridge. In the modern sense the .30 carbine cartridge can be called an "intermediate" but the lack of the muzzle energy and round nosed bullet limited the effective range to about 200 meters or so. Anyway, it had still much longer range than any pistol round of its time, along with moderate recoil.
http://world.guns.ru/rifle/rfl08-e.htm

[Andrew LB]

So has mine. Long Beach and Los Angeles have carried AR-15's since the North Hollywood Shootout.



As for the previous comments about the Ruger Mini-14. It doesn't have the accuracy at distances that the police need. I've shot one and my groupings started to really faulter after 100 yards, especially since i was using run of the mill ammo and not hand loads.