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Police and military equipment - overturning Obama ban protects Americans and law enforcement
Fox News ^ | August 28, 2017 | John R Lott Jr

Posted on 08/28/2017 6:13:19 PM PDT by richardb72

Police have a tough and dangerous job. Armored military vehicles and military-grade body armor aren’t just useful for soldiers, they make it possible for police to protect Americans.

During his address Monday to the annual meeting of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police union with 330,000 members, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that President Trump is overturning Obama’s ban on supplying surplus military equipment to police.

It is an issue that the Fraternal Order of Police and other police organizations cared about deeply during the campaign last year. Indeed, they based their endorsement of Trump during the election on his promise to overturn this ban.

Obama first ordered a review of the Clinton-era program after heavily armored police confronted rioters in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Obama worried that the armored vehicles and heavily-armored police only exacerbated tensions and led to more violence, but Obama never seemed to understand that with rocks, bottles, and tent poles being thrown at the police -- and even bullets being fired at them -- the police couldn’t have stood between the protestors and those who they were protecting without this gear. And that without the police, the violence would have been much worse.

If there are any doubts what would have happened without such protection, just remember how much worse the riots were when Governor Nixon (D-Missouri) temporarily kept the police and national guard out of Ferguson. As one newspaper wrote: “A show of force by police and the U.S. National Guard in Ferguson, Missouri, prevented a second night of widespread rioting by early on Wednesday.” Nixon might have been well motivated by the fear that police would only antagonize the rioters, but his decision meant that the demonstrators ran wild, destroying businesses and harming people

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: banglist; cprc; medabias; militarizedpolice; notneeded; police; searchworks; stupididea; trump; waste
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To: goldstategop

underarmed police


Checking for smell-fies.


41 posted on 08/28/2017 7:05:14 PM PDT by sparklite2 (I'm less interested in the rights I have than the liberties I can take.)
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To: RitaOK

The people of OK and TX are more alike than anyone will ever say.

Friendliest people in the world. But also quite capable of dealing with the surprises of nature and problems with foreign mentality.

They Say: Don’t Mess with Texas.

They are right, but nice people never have to even think about that.


42 posted on 08/28/2017 7:09:52 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: Texas Fossil

“We should have a citizen militia. Not federal but State.”

Twenty-six states have an organized state militia. It’s not national guard, although that makes no difference, but rather state-controlled militia.

Wanna join? South Carolina has three battalions.

Come on over. I’ll sign you up.


43 posted on 08/28/2017 7:12:16 PM PDT by sergeantdave
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To: WatchungEagle

There are zero conservatives supporting this.


44 posted on 08/28/2017 7:13:46 PM PDT by MrEdd (Caveat Emptor)
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To: goldstategop

Think BLM would ‘t like to burn an assault vehicle full of cops? The cops could stomp Antifa ...why does autocorrect insist on capitalizing that?....into a wee spot if their superiors would let them.


45 posted on 08/28/2017 7:15:57 PM PDT by gundog (Hail to the Chief, bitches.)
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To: goldstategop

I don’t know a county deputy or a police officer that does not carry a gun. Absolutely nobody thinks about it.

BUT, many civilians carry too. Most concealed. It should always be that way.

Almost all homes here have guns in them. Nobody even thinks about it.

1/2 of the cars and pickups have a gun in the glove box. In most circumstances no license required.

This leads to peaceful communities. BLM will never come to a place like this.


46 posted on 08/28/2017 7:18:18 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: MrEdd

“There are zero conservatives supporting this.”

Our pro-2nd amendment, constitutional sheriff has a military landing craft to help citizens who live on an island in the county. If disaster strikes, we’ll use it to assist (carry over food and supplies) or evacuate the islanders to the mainland. We support that.


47 posted on 08/28/2017 7:20:50 PM PDT by sergeantdave
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To: sergeantdave

We have a Texas State Guard. It is growing.

I was just in SC a couple of weeks ago. My wife is from NC. We go play on the beach with my daughter and grandson every year.

The people of the Carolina’s have a lot in common with those in Texas and Oklahoma. Great people all around.

But I certainly agree with what you have in SC.


48 posted on 08/28/2017 7:22:04 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: richardb72

Everything Obama did, everything, was designed to weaken the US in advance of a complete takeover by the hard left.


49 posted on 08/28/2017 7:25:35 PM PDT by KyCats
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To: Texas Fossil

“The people of the Carolina’s have a lot in common with those in Texas and Oklahoma. Great people all around.”

Indeed we do have much in common. People like you is the reason why America will never fall.

Semper Fi.


50 posted on 08/28/2017 7:33:39 PM PDT by sergeantdave
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To: goldstategop
You forget Antifa. Right now, underarmed police have to back down in the face of thugs because they don’t have the tools to stop them.

I'm sorry, did I miss when police lost their sidearms? Following the LAPD escalation tree, someone comes at an officer with a bat, lethal force is authorized. Shoot the perp, you'll see a whole lot less thugs with baseball bats swinging at officers.

What tools are you exactly seeking? Some namby pamby 'don't hurt them' solution? I'm sorry, are there nerf bumpers around the rocks and bricks they throw at police? Are poor man biological agent bombs (bottles of urine) equivalent to, oh, I don't know, a water cannon?

An armored vehicle has an extremely limited set of viable uses, almost all of them involved an emplaced gunman who is well protected. Pretty much of zero use during a riot.

I mean, seriously, how long does it take to set up a firehose? If you're looking for some soft response, officers are well equipped; probably even over geared.

If you're dealing with a riot, pull out the shotguns and start firing; feel free to start with bird shot if you really want to send some warning before turning to slugs.

51 posted on 08/28/2017 7:38:04 PM PDT by kingu (Everything starts with slashing the size and scope of the federal government.)
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To: goldstategop

That’s a crazy suggestion that lack of heavy body armor and armored vehicles is what has caused the lack luster response to antifa. We all know that was due to politicians ordering officers to stand down.


52 posted on 08/28/2017 7:38:54 PM PDT by WatchungEagle
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To: sergeantdave

Most of the people who live in states like ours, don’t even think about what this means. It is just accepted as how it is.

That is the beauty. Things like the floods in Houston, bring out the best in people here. Nobody tells them to go do something, they just take it on themselves and do.

It is the same with other types of emergencies. May it always be so.


53 posted on 08/28/2017 7:45:51 PM PDT by Texas Fossil ((Texas is not where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind & Attitude!))
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To: raybbr; All
Some of you sound like the anti-Second Amendment, anti-gunners screaming about banning "assault weapons and big black 50 caliber rifles."

What is the difference between a law enforcement officer operating a HumVee vs a patrol car, except the HumVee is inherently safer.

The concern is with the operator, not the hardware.... the shooter not the rifle... the driver, not the car.

54 posted on 08/28/2017 8:41:45 PM PDT by Cobra64 (Common sense isn't common any more.)
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To: raybbr

Yep. All Law enforcement has to do is their job. Stop the coddling, stop giving rioters their “space”, etc. Kick out the illegals, muslims, and communists. Problem solved. PLUS, look at all the job openings that will ensue in the Media, Education, and gov’t!

But this will not happen. Instead, while we watch the right hand, the left hand quietly decimated another inalienable right:

Congress Quietly Passed a Bill Allowing Warrantless Searches of Homes—Only 1% Opposed It

http://thefreethoughtproject.com/congress-passes-bill-allowing-homes-searched-without-warrant/


55 posted on 08/28/2017 8:52:14 PM PDT by Kalamata (Inside Every Liberal is a Totalitarian Screaming to Get Out - D. Horowitz)
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To: richardb72

Politics is compromise. One compromise Trump made is to protect and revive the WOD, because that’s of supreme importance to LE and parts of the military, and Trump rightly sees them as the core of his base. You keep the core of your base happy if you know what’s good for you.

We’ve employed elements of the military in protecting and facilitating the heroin base industry in Afghanistan, so the other end of the pipeline needs optimization as well. LE needs (rather, wants) all the toys they can get to crack down on unauthorized distribution and maximize seizures and forfeitures, which are lifeblood.

The Spice must flow regardless who holds temporal power. Some things simply cannot be messed with.


56 posted on 08/29/2017 1:14:11 AM PDT by JustaTech (A mind is a terrible thing)
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To: richardb72

There is no reason for this; we have a military, and we have law enforcement - and they serve two different purposes. Leave it that way.

Countries with “law enforcement castes” don’t do well in terms of individual rights.


57 posted on 08/29/2017 3:28:39 AM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: raybbr

Reality bites - when police are regularly outnumbered a few hundred to one, by folks who throw “cocktails” and who, if they decide to go armed, would have overwhelming deadly force available even if they were all carrying .22s, having armored protection makes sense - they ain’t at the OK Corral these days.


58 posted on 08/29/2017 4:33:23 AM PDT by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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To: trebb

Yeah, tell me when they’re ever going to use this stuff? They’ve had plenty of opportunities to stop rioting in the last couple of years and not one department has used anything like over whelming force - or even tried.

Oh, I know. The next TEA party rally we’ll see APC’s and riot gear cause they can show force and not have to use it. Unless a democrat is in charge then orders will come down.


59 posted on 08/29/2017 4:46:05 AM PDT by raybbr (That progressive bumper sticker on your car might just as well say, "Yes, I'm THAT stupid!")
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To: Cobra64

Yeah, I’m anti 2nd because I don’t want cops turned into the military. Pathetic straw man.

“””The concern is with the operator, not the hardware.... the shooter not the rifle... the driver, not the car.”””

Thanks for making my point. Yes, there are plenty of cops out there just dying to “operate” this equipment like they’ve been taught.


60 posted on 08/29/2017 4:48:15 AM PDT by raybbr (That progressive bumper sticker on your car might just as well say, "Yes, I'm THAT stupid!")
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