This guy lives in a fantasy world.

What's a few dead cops to the gun lobby?
www.miamiherald.com:80/news/columnists/fred_grimm/story/558637.html
Posted on Thu, Jun. 05, 2008
BY FRED GRIMM
[email protected]

The shock was in the weight of the thing. Less than six pounds.

It was a cop's weapon, a semiautomatic assault rifle of dull anodized black steel, stripped down to an unadorned functionality.

How light it felt in my hands. Like a toy gun.

I thought how easy it would be for some kid, some 110-pound wild-dog street punk, to heft an AR-6520 and wield it to hellish effect.

No wonder Fort Lauderdale is spending $82,000 for guns designed to kill enemy soldiers. Police know that since the expiration of the federal assault weapon ban, young criminals have ginned up the arms race.

Gun peddlers visit gun stores and shows where they make legal purchases of semiautomatic military assault guns powerful enough to penetrate walls, doors, cars -- powerful enough to render a police officer's bulletproof vest obsolete.

They flip them. Sell them out of car trunks at twice the price to gangbangers, drug dealers and armed robbers who want to upgrade to cop killers. Sell them to felons. Sell them to kids. Sell them to certifiably crazy people as long as crazy people can ante up a cold three grand.

PRO-GUN CONGRESS

Last year, the feds indicted four gun merchants on charges they had purchased more than 150 assault weapons and accessories, including a 90-round clip, and resold them in northwest Miami-Dade's toughest neighborhoods.

Chew on that: A young aspiring criminal no longer thinks his 9mm automatic pistol packs enough death. He's willing to pay street prices for an AK-47 with a 90-round clip.

The Fort Lauderdale police department held a news conference Wednesday to talk about the purchase of 100 Colt AR-6520 rifles. The city's cops were authorized semiautomatic weapons back in 2001 but it was up to individual patrolmen to buy their own. A lot has changed since 2001.

In 2004, Congress allowed the ban on assault weapons to expire. The federal law suffered major loopholes, but it still had the effect of tamping down the firepower cops faced on the streets. Since the ban was jettisoned, police groups like the International Association of Chiefs of Police have lamented that the bad guys have the cops outgunned.

NEW REALITY

Nationwide, even as police departments beg Congress to reinstate the assault weapon ban, they're reluctantly dealing with the new reality. Last month, Washington D.C., announced that city patrol cars would be equipped with AR-15 assault rifles, following cities like Miami, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, even Waterloo, Iowa.

The danger has become painfully obvious to any department in the vicinity of Miami-Dade County. Two officers have been murdered in the past nine months by gunmen carrying variations of the AK-47. In September, Miami-Dade officer Jose Somohano was killed and two other officers wounded. In February, Miami Detective James Walker was murdered as he sat in his car.

Fort Lauderdale cops see the increase in firearm savagery a few miles south. They understand the new reality.

Congress demonstrated in 2004 how much value was placed on the mythical right of private citizens to own semiautomatic military assault rifles.

How much? More than a few dead cops.

 

This won't go well.


Again.

Quoted: dull anodized black steel

Anodized steel.

For the childruuuuuunnnn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111

AR-6520  

Damn, the first thing I thought of was "you can't anodize steel you dumbass" and I've already been beaten to it.  

The article is full of dumbshit. The comments are running pretty much the way you'd expect.

"Oh yes, as a footnote, disarm the law abiding, they are soft targets anyway. The criminals, they have rightas that need to be respected"


"What a jerk - do you really think that a gun toting criminal is worried about how to obtain a legal firearm, or if it was legal in the first place?

Nope you just have a cause and will do and say anything to try and make it so. Typical Obama Nation member, whatever it takes to get the end you desire, even if it isn't true.

I have no doubt that in the upcoming years Obama Nation will take away the right of the private citizen to have guns. You really want a society ruled by thugs. Obama Nation is just what it is going to be."


"By the way fred, reading this article reminded me that I have to renew my NRA membership :)"


"My take on it is this: if there are more of these rifles available, there are more available to criminals. If they were banned, it would be harder for even the illegal dealers to get them.

And I think whoever acted like they were going to *help* the cops by owning one is ridiculous. Oh, right, you're going to walk out of your house and join a gun fight with the cops, on their side. Perhaps you'd like to submit statistics on how many times *that* has happened?

What if we licensed only guns from a certain level of power up? Handguns, no problem, no license. Hunting rifles, single-action guns, no license. Semi-auto weapons to full-out or larger projectile guns, you need a license.

Now I know the 2A people don't like the idea of licenses for guns. But here's my question: in your doomsday scenario, who comes for your guns? The government? As who, the military? How many soldiers do you think would follow that order? How many *cops* do you think would be ok with a wide sweep of gun-owners? Do you not imagine law-enforcement to be sympathetic to your cause? Politicians, no. But the people on the ground who carry guns for work and know the dangers in the world? I don't think they're going to obey the orders that you imagine would happen."


"We must ban those evil instruments that are murdering our police officers all over the country. I want Mr Grimn to join the crusade to eliminate the possession of the number one tool causing the unnecessary deaths of our law enforcement officers: Vehicles.

So far in 2008, 25 officers have died because of vehicles. We must stop this insanity and ban the use of these weapons of mass destruction form the hands of untrained civilians. Besides it will help us reduce our carbon footprint, right?"


"The NRA say you can kill whoever you want, it must be true."


"I have yet to go to a gun store and see the criminals legally buying guns. The anti-gun freedom lobby is ridiculous. I have also yet to see a gun shoot without the help of someone pulling the trigger. Regrettably I have yet to see our crimunal justice system truly penalize the criminal for his actions. Instead liberals want to criminalize legal responsible gun owners for the crimes of others. I am sure that that will solve the problem?"


I REALLY like this guy's comments!

"Benjamin9 asserts that his assault rifle is less powerful than a deer rifle. And if you speak only of the size of the powder charge or the bullet, that would be right. But the real deadly power of the AK-47 is the speed with which it fires. It's the speed that made the AK-47 the deadliest infantry weapon yet devised. This rifle is not about sport, it's about death."


"Articles like this are necessary to get the populace to understand the need for them to be disarmed. I can think of nothing more enjoyable than the vision of a disarmed nation at the mercy of both government and the criminal element. Imagine the joy of being able to drive around and rape and murder at will and have the knowledge that noone could stand against you. I cannot wait."


Oppps, somebody called bullshit on Mr. AK-47 WMD!!

"JHopp99 - You wrote: "But the real deadly power of the AK-47 is the speed with which it fires. It's the speed that made the AK-47 the deadliest infantry weapon yet devised."

I'm a little confused by this statement so please explain your logic.

If by "speed" you mean the muzzle velocity of 7.62x39 ammunition, then you're wrong since it quite low compared to other "assault rifles."

Now if by "speed" you mean the cyclic rate of a fully automatic AK-47, then that comment has no bearing to this article or conversation as both refer to semi-automatic rifles - where the speed is limited to how fast you can pull the trigger (just like hunting rifles and handguns)."


"I'm appalled at the responses to this article. All of them are so anxious to show everyone how knowledgable they are about guns! What egos! Not one mentions the fact that if they were members of the police force, this would be a live-or-die decision. This "cowboy" mentality is the problem; why this law was allowed to lapse is beyond reason. I understand the argument (and fear?) they have, but allowing this law to lapse is beyond any reasoning. Can't you see that bigger and better warfare is not the solution?"


"Fred, instead of thanking the police for standing up and getting their officers tools to fight not just gang bangers, but think about it, terrorist. Do you think for one minute that we are not going to hit with another attack? As a cop myself, I will tell you I'm thankful I'm not going to respond to an incident with just a side arm. Try wearing a badge and dealing with the worst of the worst killers for a day and then tell me how you want to institute the AWB. Besides, likes it's already mentioned here...criminals don't go to the gun store to buy weapons!!! Please stop selling propaganda."


And people talk about how ignorant gun owners are!!!


"Let these people have their guns. They mostly use them to shoot their wives and girlfriends and to celebrate the 4th of July. Yeehaw!"


"THE RIGHT TO OWN A GUN IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE RIGHT TO LIVE...."


Looks like Fred started a shitstorm. Amazing how worthless newspapers are becoming.

What's 22,000,000 people killed by governments and gun control in the last century to the anti-gunners?

Quoted: What's 22,000,000 people killed by governments and gun control in the last century to the anti-gunners?

A start.

I couldn't resist.

Quoted: What's 22,000,000 people killed by governments and gun control in the last century to the anti-gunners?

Good point.

I thought the number was much higher though.