Publicola

Next time you get a call asking for donations for the local police union, remember this.

"Police chiefs from major U.S. cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta and Philadelphia urged Congress on Wednesday to renew the federal ban on assault weapons, which is set to expire next year.
Standing behind a table laden with semi-automatic rifles and other firearms seized from the streets of Philadelphia, the law enforcement leaders told a news conference that failure to extend the ban would cause a new surge in multiple killings and subject police officers to a greater risk of armed attacks."

The chiefs care more about their political influence than a person's Rights. The only increased risk of attack should come from the rank & file cops who demand the resignation of such fools.

"The idea that 10 years later we are even debating this is insanity,' Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said."

I agree. The ban should have been declared unconstitutional the day it took effect. The only debate should be how to punish those who voted for the ban & those who enforced it.

"As an illustration of the destructive firepower of assault weapons, which incorporate military features, the police chiefs cited a 1993 attack in California where they said a man with an assault weapon killed eight people and wounded six others in 11 minutes."

Hmmm... 14 people shot in 11 minutes. Yep. Musta been one ah dem dare scary looking A-salt rifles. Why heck, it'd take a single shot to equal that rate o' fire.

To illustrate how absurd that statement is, in High Power Rifle matches the last stage is 20 shots fired in 20 minutes at a target 600 yards away. Semi-auto's, such as M1 Garands & M1A's must be loaded 1 cartridge at a time, so in effect they're used as single shot bolt actions. Now depending upon your technique It's not that uncommon to be finished in 11 minutes or so. That's 20 shots fired at a target 600 yards away, loaded one at a time, & it can be done in 11 minutes.That's about 33 second per shot.
The murderer in question shot 14 people in 11 minutes which equates to 47 seconds per shot. Not exactly a compelling argument about the banned weapons high rate of fire now is it?

But I wonder if these statist bastards would feel differently about any & all gun control laws if they applied to police as well as us mere peasants?

Update: Seems like prohibiting police officers from having 'assault weapons' might make it harder for criminals to get them.

"A handcuffed man arrested for crashing a stolen car Tuesday morning surprised a California Highway Patrol officer by climbing into his squad car and driving away...
The squad car had been left running with the keys in the ignition. A shotgun and AR-15 rifle were also in the car."

So the cops can't keep a car thief they arrested from stealing their car with a shotgun & an 'assault weapon' inside, yet the chiefs say that 'assault weapons' are too dangerous for us mere peasants to possess?