[holymoly]

St. Petersburg police officers have added the Colt AR-15 rifle to their inventory

IMO They'd be better armed with the M1 .30 Carbine.

The semiautomatic weapons fire bullets that travel up to 2,700 feet per second and are powerful enough to penetrate body armor.

Any centerfire rifle round will penetrate Kevlar soft body armor.

[2banana]

So what are they thinking - the now legal bayonet lug is going to foster an uptick of drive by bayonetings...?

[speed_addiction]

This is just laughable! All of these criminals just patiently waited for the assault weapons ban to expire so they could LEGALLY buy assault weapons.

[GrandEagle]

The expiration of the nation's ban on the sale of assault rifles and
The presupposition is that the "assault weapon" ban actually DID anything to inhibit criminals.

[ARCADIA]

The expiration of the nation's ban on the sale of assault rifles and the appearance of more heavily armed criminals have pushed more than 100 St. Petersburg police officers to order assault rifles of their own for official duty.

Just about any excuse works to spend taxpayer dollars. I am surprised they haven't ordered stinger missiles to deal with reports of UFOs.

[DTogo]

St. Petersburg police officers have added the Colt AR-15 rifle to their inventory to counter the expiration of the assault weapons ban and the appearance of more heavily armed criminals.

What's that supposed to mean? Are more heavily armed criminals being arrested or just appearing??

[Izzy Dunne]

The expiration of the nation's ban on the sale of assault rifles and the appearance of more heavily armed criminals

Hmmm. I wonder...

Do they have any evidence to back up the 2nd part ofthat statement?
Do they have any evidence that the first part has ANYTHING to do with the 2nd part?

Sounds like it could be some reporter jumping to conclusions, or just making stuff up.

[Ladysmith]

Give me a friggin' break! Like a scumbag who would even shoot a cop was concerned about the ban in the first place! Or for any of the thousands of gun laws that's in place.

[blackie]

"St. Petersburg police officers have added the Colt AR-15 rifle to their inventory to counter the expiration of the assault weapons ban and the appearance of more heavily armed criminals."

What an inflammatory piece of editorializing crap!

"IMO They'd be better armed with the M1 .30 Carbine."

M1 .30 Carbines aren't as good as AR-15. M1 .30-06 rifles are a different story; that baby packs a punch. :)

[Sir Gawain]

Propaganda piece. Citizens better get their walls reinforced with bullet proof material.

[libstripper]

This is laughable. The author doesn't even know that the AR-15 isn't an "assault rifle" because it's semiautomatic. To be an actual assault rifle a weapon needs full auto capability and to fire a medium power round.

OTOH, if the Miami cops had really wanted effective weapons for dealing with perps wearing body armor, they'd have gone for .308 caliber M1-As or M-14s. An officer firing onw of those could have ended the infamous LA shootout in a couple of minutes, given what a .308 round will do to any body armor. The other advantage of the M1-A and M-14 rifles is they look a lot more like sporting rifles and, thus, aren't as likely to arouse the prejudices of ignorant people like this article's author.

[Thrusher]

The expiration of the nation's ban on the sale of assault rifles and the appearance of more heavily armed criminals have pushed more than 100 St. Petersburg police officers to order assault rifles of their own for official duty.

Police Chief Chuck Harmon approved use of the AR-15s last June...

Hey, never let facts get in the way of good leftist propaganda -- the expiration of the federal assault-weapons ban occurred in September, which, last time I checked, was several months before June.

Maybe the cops pushed to get better guns because criminals -- who, by their very definition, don't obey the law -- have been using assault weapons against the cops and our communities for years.

[Rummyfan]

Advocates say the assault rifles are vastly better than the standard Glock handguns assigned to officers and are more accurate than the pump-action shotguns that the department makes available.

Really????

[Bonaparte]

"The weapons must be stored in a hard case in the trunk of a patrol car except when being used."

"Hi, this is the Bad Guy. Could you patch me through to the patrolling officer? Hi, officer. I'm about to shoot at you with my "assault" weapon. I know it won't fire any faster or kill you any more efficiently, but I just wanted to give you time to park your car, go back to the trunk, unlock it, get your weapon out and return fire. You say you're just finishing your donut? Ok, is 5 minutes good for you? Okay, I'll hold fire till then."

[jonascord]

Did someone put LSD in the water supply? Is something leaking out of the ground in Pinnellas County that is making everyone crazy?

[Leatherneck_MT]

IMO They'd be better armed with the M1 .30 Carbine.

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

[Tuba Guy]

The newer Colt M4 might be better for police in urban warfare.

[Ramonan]

Wow! they are just now getting AR-15's. (IF they buy one) The California Highway Patrol got AR-15's in 1994. We had three days of training. My group was at Camp Pendleton. The weapons must be stored in a hard case in the trunk of a patrol car except when being used. Why have it? The bad guys can shoot you before you can get it out. Advocates say the assault rifles are vastly better than the standard Glock handguns assigned to officers DUH! Your Glock is only accurate up to about 50 feet. DRAWBACK in California: You can use the AR-15 --IF you are on duty, in uniform. IF you are off duty and have one, you can be charged with the felony of possession of " an assault Rifle".

[Myrddin]

My local police department has real M16 rifles in the squad cars. Big deal.

[ChefKeith]

Are these chambered in .223 or 9mm?

[Bon mots]

Hope they don't give one to this officer
Short Film