Assault Weapon-Carrying Criminals Create 'Arms Race' With Police

ruertar · February 20th, 2007, 06:29 PM

http://www.local6.com/news/11064724/detail.html

Quote:

local6.com
Assault Weapon-Carrying Criminals Create 'Arms Race' With Police
Weapons Seizures Up 26 Percent In Orange County Since 2004

POSTED: 3:37 pm EST February 20, 2007
UPDATED: 4:06 pm EST February 20, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Law enforcement agencies across the country have been upgrading their firepower to deal with what they say is the increasing presence of high-powered weapons on the streets, creating an "arms race" of sorts.

Ron Stucker, criminal investigations chief of the Orange County Sheriff's Department in Florida, said the department has been rearming many of its deputies with assault weapons in the past two years.

Stucker said deputies are now "frequently" encountering assault weapons in local robberies and during simple traffic stops. Weapons seizures in Orlando have increased overall by 26 percent since 2004.

It was not immediately clear if assault weapons were driving the increase in weapons seizures or were directly linked to the county's record number of homicides in 2006, Stucker said.

Scott Knight, chairman of the Firearms Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, said an informal survey of about 20 departments revealed that since 2004 all of the agencies have either added weapons to officers' patrol units or have replaced existing weaponry with military-style arms.

Knight, police chief in Chaska, Minn., said the upgrades have occurred since a national ban on certain assault weapons expired in September 2004. The ban, passed in 1994, in part prohibited domestic gunmakers from producing semi-automatic weapons and ammunition dispensers holding more than 10 rounds.

"This (weapons upgrade) is being done with an eye to the absolute knowledge that more higher-caliber weapons are on the street since the expiration of the ban," Knight said. He said his own department of about 20 officers is in the midst of determining whether to upgrade its weapons.

In Houston, where homicides were up as much as 25 percent in 2006 over the previous year, Police Chief Harold Hurtt said the AK-47 assault rifle has become "kind of a weapon of choice" for warring gangs, major drug distributors and immigrant smugglers in a city that has become a major transit point for criminals.

"The reality on the street is that many of these weapons are readily available," said Hurtt, whose department began upgrading its weaponry with assault-style arms about three years ago before he arrived from Phoenix.

Last year, because of the escalation of violence and firepower on the street, Hurtt said he ordered patrol officers to wear body armor. Wearing armor had long been a matter of personal choice for officers.

The chief also is considering a proposal from officers to put 12-gauge shotguns back inside their patrol cars so they can be more accessible.

He said shotguns were moved to the car trunks when the cabs became crowded with laptop computers and other equipment. Paul Erhardt, a spokesman for major gun manufacturer Sigarms, said the 2001 terrorist attacks, the violence following Hurricane Katrina and other high-profile incidents involving weapons contributed more to law enforcement's interest in rearming officers than any concerns raised by the expiring assault weapons ban. Erhardt's company outfits about 40 percent of the statewide law enforcement agencies in the USA.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

Copyright 2007 by Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Rob72 · February 20th, 2007, 06:40 PM

Uhhh....yeah. Not that the DOJ stats still show <2% of crimes involve long guns, overall. Don't let facts confuse good hand-wringing by wet-nosed pantywaists. If they want a real solution: kill felons. Research has shown that dead offenders do not re-offend.

HotGuns · February 20th, 2007, 08:49 PM

More antigun rhetoric.

The BS assault weapons bill did NOTHING to decrease the availablity of guns on the street...and that is one of the many reasons that it was not reauthorized.

Quote:

It was not immediately clear if assault weapons were driving the increase in weapons seizures or were directly linked to the county's record number of homicides in 2006, Stucker said.

a totally worthless statement made only to sway opinion.

Quote:

Last year, because of the escalation of violence and firepower on the street, Hurtt said he ordered patrol officers to wear body armor. Wearing armor had long been a matter of personal choice for officers.

If thats the case, they were WAY behind everyone else. Every dept. that I know of around here requires uniformed officers to wear body armor.

Quote:

Paul Erhardt, a spokesman for major gun manufacturer Sigarms, said the 2001 terrorist attacks, the violence following Hurricane Katrina and other high-profile incidents involving weapons contributed more to law enforcement's interest in rearming officers than any concerns raised by the expiring assault weapons ban.

At least they interviewed someone with a bit of sense.

madengr · February 20th, 2007, 09:04 PM

Quote:

Last year, because of the escalation of violence and firepower on the street, Hurtt said he ordered patrol officers to wear body armor. Wearing armor had long been a matter of personal choice for officers.

I didn't think body armor (at least a Level III vest with no plates)would do much against rifle fire anyway.

P95Carry · February 20th, 2007, 09:12 PM

More hyped spin.

I will admit however that PD's should certainly ''up-arm'' regardless, if only for lessons learned at the N Hollywood shootout. I fully favor LE having the right tools and not being under gunned with just their handguns available or the trunk shottie.

As for the ''Assault Weapon Ban expiration" - that makes little or no difference at all and that has been picked on for an underhand stab at some weapons.

"They" could ban all legal ownership of AK's and SKS's tomorrow and yet thugs will still have access to such regardless. I wish it would be realized that the criminal fraternity is a culture all of its own and has all its own supply lines well in place - and always will.

Redneck Repairs · February 20th, 2007, 09:19 PM

First off i think a " patrol rifle " should be part of every officers duty gear. Times and threats change , it is time for the officers to have rifles easily avalable .
With that in mind tho , just the other day i saw where a dept in scottland of all places was up arming due to the arms race there ( or so they said lol ) . I agree that our officers need the best possible equipment when they go on duty, but find the whole arms race crap nothing more than fear tactics to grease the skids of a future awb.

Knight · February 20th, 2007, 09:47 PM

I woke up this morning and read this

. First thing I asked myself about the article, "Did they mention how the 'assault rifles' were obtained? Just a wild guess but maybe they 'accidentally' left that part out"

SubNine · February 20th, 2007, 09:51 PM

If there is money to be made in arms dealing, then people will do it by any means necessary. WAKE UP AMERICA!

briansmech · February 20th, 2007, 09:58 PM

what a load of crap...

PD's have always upgraded... from revolvers, to auto's, to hi cap auto's, etc.

making a mountain out of a mole hill...

Quote:

Stucker said deputies are now "frequently" encountering assault weapons in local robberies and during simple traffic stops.

convenient quotation marks means author doesnt haveta substantiate with fact...

foreveryoung001 · February 20th, 2007, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redneck Repairs

just the other day i saw where a dept in scottland of all places was up arming due to the arms race there ( or so they said lol ) .

SCOTTLAND?!?!?!?

No, you must be mistaken. Firearms are illegal in Scottland, so obviously that report must be wrong. Criminals wouldn't break the law like that.

(sarcasm off)

February 20th, 2007, 09:12 PM	#5
P95Carry Assistant Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: South West PA Posts: 25,366	More hyped spin. I will admit however that PD's should certainly ''up-arm'' regardless, if only for lessons learned at the N Hollywood shootout. I fully favor LE having the right tools and not being under gunned with just their handguns available or the trunk shottie. As for the ''Assault Weapon Ban expiration" - that makes little or no difference at all and that has been picked on for an underhand stab at some weapons. "They" could ban all legal ownership of AK's and SKS's tomorrow and yet thugs will still have access to such regardless. I wish it would be realized that the criminal fraternity is a culture all of its own and has all its own supply lines well in place - and always will. __________________ Chris - P95 NRA Certified Instructor & NRA Life Member. "To own a gun and assume that you are armed is like owning a piano and assuming that you are a musician!." If a BG dies as the result of pointing a gun at me, then he has merely succumbed to an occupational hazard of being a thug

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February 20th, 2007, 06:40 PM	#2
Rob72 VIP Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: OKC, OK Posts: 3,034	Uhhh....yeah. Not that the DOJ stats still show <2% of crimes involve long guns, overall. Don't let facts confuse good hand-wringing by wet-nosed pantywaists. If they want a real solution: kill felons. Research has shown that dead offenders do not re-offend.

February 20th, 2007, 09:19 PM	#6
Redneck Repairs VIP Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 5,141	First off i think a " patrol rifle " should be part of every officers duty gear. Times and threats change , it is time for the officers to have rifles easily avalable . With that in mind tho , just the other day i saw where a dept in scottland of all places was up arming due to the arms race there ( or so they said lol ) . I agree that our officers need the best possible equipment when they go on duty, but find the whole arms race crap nothing more than fear tactics to grease the skids of a future awb.

February 20th, 2007, 09:47 PM	#7
Knight Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: ici Posts: 182	I woke up this morning and read this . First thing I asked myself about the article, "Did they mention how the 'assault rifles' were obtained? Just a wild guess but maybe they 'accidentally' left that part out"

February 20th, 2007, 09:51 PM	#8
SubNine Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Anchorage Alaska Posts: 989	If there is money to be made in arms dealing, then people will do it by any means necessary. WAKE UP AMERICA!