I’m surprised the AP included this critical tidbit:”When she pointed her gun at the two nearest deputies”.First:as far as i’m concerned,at that point she crossed the line from being a threat to herself to being a threat to law enforcement.Whether LE used 9mm autos vs .223 to protect themselves is irrelevant.Second:criminals have access to,and use assault rifles.How can anyone argue that LE should be deprived of adequate firepower?Not too many yrs ago i recall two bank robbers(LA?)w full auto AK’s+body armor.The cops had to borrow high powered rifles from area gun shops to put them down.While i’m on my soapbox,if i were LE i’d like to have at least one of the new(semi-auto).50cal sniper rifles in the armory-just in case:)
Oops.Correction to my previous post-LA incident already mentioned.
Their problem isn't lack of firepower, it's lack of training. There's very little police need to be doing that can't be done with a service pistol, and the rest can be done with the shotgun.
Handing out automatic rifles to untrained cops who couldn't get it done before isn't going to make them effective, it's going to make them miss even more dangerously and often in the 10 or 20 foot confrontations that make up the policing they actually do.
If they want to play commando with black rifles so badly, the place for that is Iraq not Mayberry.
As for police dept. gearing up... Are they doing anything along the lines of serious sniper equipment and training? A single well-aimed round can often end a bad situation.
I believe that LA bank heist happened while the Assault Weapon ban was in force. I wonder where the crooks got the weapons? Perhaps Miami Police Chief John Timoney is mistaken and criminals can get illegal weapons regardless of gun laws.
As far as I know, cops don’t have to shoot a target from a mile away.