Some Question Whether Police Need More Firepower

[HiredGoon]

Some Question Whether Police Need More Firepower

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― The shooting that killed three Pittsburgh Police officers is leading many to ask: should police be better armed?

Pittsburgh City Council President Doug Shields is one of them who think so.

He says the officers are out-armed on the streets by criminals.

Pittsburgh Police say they are reviewing their policies and will decide whether to train their officers and equip their patrol cars with either semi-automatic or long-ranged rifles.

"Our officers need the weaponry to match that response that's out on the street, and a 9 millimeter pistol is not going to do the trick," said Shields.

"Obviously in law enforcement we want to meet the threat we were given with an equal threat," said Dan O'Hara of the Fraternal Order of Police.

Right now, only SWAT team officers in Pittsburgh have both shotguns and semi-automatic rifles.

[imperialism2024]

I propose this: the police of a given jurisdiction should be allowed to possess and carry on duty only what the citizens are allowed to possess and carry in that jurisdiction.

My logic is this: if gun control works, then the police will always have an equal amount of "firepower" as the criminal element that is claimed to be gun-controlled. If, however, the police still find themselves outgunned, then lawmakers must be forced to accept that gun control indeed does not work. Not to mention that given that the police have no duty to protect individual citizens, there is no compelling reason for them to have any additional access to guns than the citizens who need to protect themselves.

I'd imagine that after police departments start having to shell out large sums of money for transferrable NFA items in free states, and that when the NYPD realizes that none of their police officers will be able to carry any guns on the job, police chiefs and police unions around the country will be calling for an expansion of the recognition of citizens' right to keep and bear arms.

So in short, I have no problem if the Pittsburgh police want semi-auto battle rifles. But if they want FA, they better start lining up to get their ATF tax stamps for outrageously overpriced Soviet-era guns.

[son of the revolution]

I dont believe for a single second that Pittsburgh SWAT is using SEMI Auto rifles . If Im mistaken in this belief , I'll be quite happy to eat crow , but all of my many previous interactions shooting and training with LEO's /SWAT is that SWAT almost universally has FULL AUTO , and in many jurisdictions even patrolmen can get a letter of authorization to purchase select fire weapons out of pocket if they desire and qualify with them .

[Dredly]

I am 1000% in favor of putting "Assault RIFLES" in patrol cars. Shotguns, handguns, tasers and pepper spray don't cut it anymore and haven't for decades, I can go to any gun show and purchase a vest that will defeat just about everything most police have.

I think buying assault pistols like UMP-45 and the MP5 is a waste of money, I think buying AR's, AK's, even .308 rifles like FAL's is a huge benefit and support it fully.

There is no reason why police should show up to an active shooter call (and recently its been proven, they happen everywhere) with nothing more then a semi-auto pistol and a radio, same goes for hostage situations, gang warfare areas... etc.

I am kind of surprised that Pitt doesn't already have AR's in cars, most cities at least have some, also I don't think AR's would have made a difference in this case, at least not as far as saving lives went.