So is this suposed to be a bad thing?
Fargo Police Lt. Ross Renner, who commands the regional SWAT team: “It’s foolish to not be cognizant of the threats out there, whether it’s New York, Los Angeles, or Fargo. Our residents have the right to be protected. We don’t have everyday threats here when it comes to terrorism, but we are asked to be prepared.”
I’d have to say I agree with Lt. Renner. As long as the equipment is used correctly, i say good for them. Hopefully they train accordingly…
It will be used for the “war” on drugs.
The article said the North Hollywood Shootout lasted for hours… AFAIK from them walking into the bank to both being dead was around a half hour. SWAT showed up with exactly the kind of equipment they are criticizing in the article and gave them dirt naps.
From what I read, the local PD had to go buy rifles at a local gunshop which was later shut down by the BATF.
Well that happened as well supposedly. My only point is that the article doesn’t even have basic fact checking. The North Hollywood Shootout did not last for hours.
The article itself is just typical liberal antigun BS, demonizing tools. If I was going to worry about something in American law enforcement it would be mindset and mission creep, not their equipment. Just read the article and note some of the hyperbole:
“In Montgomery County, Texas, the sheriff’s department owns a $300,000 pilotless surveillance drone, like those used to hunt down al Qaeda terrorists in the remote tribal regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.”
Yeah and Police helicopters are just like those used to gun down innocent women and children in Vietnam as seen in the movie Jull Metal Jacket!
“In Augusta, Maine, with fewer than 20,000 people and where an officer hasn’t died from gunfire in the line of duty in more than 125 years, police bought eight $1,500 tactical vests.”
Well shit I guess nobody in that department wanted to be the first guy to do so, what a bunch of selfish assholes.
That is internet lore and simply not true…
Like I said, from what I read. So they didn’t have to go a gunshop?
The during the North Hollywood Shootout, news channels using scanners picked up an Officer talking on the radio who said (paraphrasing) “They’ve got machineguns, someone goto B&B and get some rifles.”
B&B was a large Gunstore in the valley that sold a large selection of firearms including ARs, AKs, and bolt guns.
No firearms from B&B were used in the incident and all rounds fired were from on duty Police officers with City issued weapons…
B
It is my understanding they commandeered the Colt Sporters from B&B Guns of North Hollywood.
Kind of funny how myths perpetuate.
I really fail to see the issue, it is not as though Cobras or arti is being used. Tools evolve for both sides, simple as that. Some are more useful than others but there is a larger need for some equipment and weapons than many realize. Having said that, I realize there is the increased chance for misuse as well.
The problem is the holier than though attitude of politicians that want a powerful police force, but disarmed citizenry.
That is an absolute recipe for disaster on a long enough timeline.
It doesn’t take much to take good cops and turn them into a gestapo. Just a couple of well placed political decisions and a threat of lost benefits and pay. It’s even easier when the people have no means to defend themselves.
So they did go to B&B, but any guns got there were not used in the incident. Is that correct? (Maybe it was over before they got back?)
Thanks for clarifying
That article smacks of leftist anti gun bullshit.
Do some research and see how many active shooter incidents were in small towns. There are a great many which were only small blurbs in the news.
People can’t stop talking about North Hollywood when the police were outgunned.
Given that weapons and equipment with an enhanced cabability are available, for little or no cost to departments, it would be a MUCH bigger story if police lacked the response necessary to address such threats.
It’s the ostrich effect of suburbs. Bury your head in sand and hope it passes you by. Then sue the police department because they lacked the training and equipment to meet high threats and your loved ones died as a result.
I understand this, but you are addressing two different problems. If that is your concern then dont forget the ACTUAL military. Most cops are good guys
It’s my understanding that they did acquire weapons at B&B, but SWAT officers arrived before the weapons were deployed.
Either way, I find it both incredibly amusing and disturbing to the point of straining credulity that an isolated incident that occurred 14 years ago is still being used as an excuse for podunk outfits in Pigs Snort, Nowhere, USA to arm up like they are preparing for a raid in Fallujah.
Umm.
I’ve always had a problem with the “training and equipment” argument. Beat cops armed with handguns and longguns and wearing body armor should be able to engage (and EXPECTED) to engage similarly equipped threats because almost without exception, the police have numbers on their side. Instead, we see events like VT and Columbine where dozens of armed men stand around the perimeter at a safe distance waiting for the shooting to stop (or SWAT/SRT to arrive). If police are incapable of acting without overwhelming firepower disparity, what fucking good are they?
Police don’t need more money and toys, they need more testicular fortitude.
Someone has to pick up pieces of your skull and your dead wife after the fact.
When seconds count. Cops are minutes away…or hours…
Im all for LEO’s having the equipment they need to do their jobs but I should be able to get the same stuff, and with just as much ease.
One of the purposes of the 2nd was an average citizen being able to defend themselves from the government. Doesn’t work very well when LEO’s are allowed to have all kinds of ‘toys’ we aren’t. I don’t like the idea of the government having all these tools we can’t defend against.
In the early part of our country people owned ships of war, cannon, mortar, and could buy any long arm they wanted. A mortar back then was no joke and puts aside the argument of the “modern military guns didn’t exist back then”.