A fat lot of good that will do!
Posted on 01/19/2008 5:49:00 AM PST by csvset
WAYNE, N.J. (CBS) ―
A large police department in New Jersey is in nail biting mode. It has lost one of the deadliest weapons in its arsenal -- a fully automatic submachine gun, and has no idea where it could be.
A 9 mm submachine gun of German design, the MP5 was developed in the 1960s by a group of engineers from the West German arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. It's used by law enforcement tactical teams across the country, as well as Army Rangers, Delta Force and Navy SEALs, among others. It is a deadly, fully automatic weapon, which can fire up to several hundred rounds per minute.
The Wayne Police Department had three MP5 submachine guns. That is until last week, when one of them went missing.
"I'm scared to death, because they're protecting our community and so they should have control over that a little better," said Wayne resident Gina Okun.
Wayne Police Capt. Paul Ireland was at a loss for words.
"It's very embarrassing," Ireland said. "This is a great police department. And unfortunately we can't find the location of it at this time."
Wayne police officials say the MP5 was used primarily as a training weapon, and only a certain number of officers had access to it.
The Wayne Police Department is frantically searching for the weapon.
Officials will not say who's on the access list, or if there are surveillance cameras in the room where the gun was stored to help determine who signed it out last.
"I hope they find it, before someone else do," said Wayne resident Fuquan Muslim.
The Passaic County prosecutor's office is also investigating.
The obvious concern is what could happen if such a dangerous weapon -- which is not available for sale to the public -- were to end up in the wrong hands.
"We in fact have weapons of this nature," prosecutor James Avigliano said. "And there is an absolute close control and monitoring of these weapons. We don't know what went wrong in Wayne, and that's what's being looked at."
The Wayne Police Department and others hope the MP5 is still somewhere in the headquarters.
"It's probably in the police station," resident Joey Lamartino said. "This is a safe town."
The fear is what happens if it's not?
The Wayne Police Department has also registered the submachine gun with the Federal Law Enforcement Database, just in case it's no longer in the department's possession.
A fat lot of good that will do!
In perfect world, these would be available to citizens also
Now there’s a big WOOPS!
So many punchlines, so little time...
You'll find the bullets first; just follow them to their source.
Why was it reported in Pittsburgh?
Might it be a bit of a ruse to scare the hell out of the public, an have an effect on the 2nd amendment case in DC?
just wondering... not like it hasn't been tried before...
Would a cop steal a machine pistol?
Regards
Well, it’s good to know that they don’t have non-deadly machine guns lying around, they wouldn’t be much use.
And apparently, their non-deadly tazers are pretty deadly as well, so maybe they should panic a little more when they lose THOSE items.
Ooooohhh......deadly
LOL
It is a deadly, fully automatic weapon, which can fire up to several hundred rounds per minute.
Ditto, see above. Personally I'd be more afraid of someone with a large magazine shotgun than a sub-gun. Now THAT's a deadly weapon, especially at close range. They're just a little slower to reload than sub-guns, unless you get one with a box magazine. With sub-machine guns, you have to aim, sort of. With shotguns, you just point and pull the trigger. Nasty.
Gee, the chief must have left it in his other pants.
Perhaps a group of citizens should file a lawsuit against the department and sue them for loss of public property, violation of storage laws and even malfeasance for providing an illegal weapon to a criminal....
God Bless
Yes.
It’s not only a deadly gun, it’s also a fully automatic submachine gun, which sets it apart from the semiautomatic submachine guns.
To the best of my knowledge, the only case of a legally registered class III weapon ever being used in a crime was by a bad cop.
Mark
That’s a Tec 9 which the idiot Schumer is firing. The Tec 9 is a POS and so is the guy attempting to fire it.
The HK is something else entirely.
...and the price would drop where the average Joe could almost afford one. Pretty limited market when only police and military have access. Not good for the economy at all, and not good as a standard for “shall not be infringed”.
Why do they have lockers at police stations ????
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