Mini-14 = assault rifle?
NYPD learns lessons from the Mumbai attacks. In the pics, they’re all carrying Mini-14s. An odd choice, I would think. The NY Daily news calls those assault rifles. Actually, at one of the gun blogger lunches, we were talking about the Mumbai attacks. We all noted that the terrorists were killing everyone, except reporters who were left alone so they could photograph and report the carnage. After all, why destroy you propaganda arm. It was pondered that perhaps the police get guns that look like cameras and dress like reporters.
February 16th, 2009 at 11:11 am
Check out this one and then decide:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=123035780#PIC
I would like to have one of these bad boys.
February 16th, 2009 at 11:44 am
The Mini-14 is a perfectly adequate choice for a patrol carbine, and has been used by the NYPD (and the Royal Ulster Constabulary and prison guards and small-town PD’s) for years because, like the M-1 carbine before it, it’s small, handy, and doesn’t make Officer Friendly look like Sergeant Rock of the Army of Occupation.
If more PD’s weren’t so anxious to dress up like Delta Force and if the .gov wasn’t giving away free M-16’s to help fight the Wo(S)D, you’d see a lot more Mini-14’s (and AC-556’s) in patrol car racks.
February 16th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I agree it’s adequate. I’m just surprised they didn’t ninja up with some tacticool ARs.
February 16th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
The Mini-14’s have got to be assault rifles. Its what the the “good guys” in the TV series A-Team used. Of course, in the series the bullets fired from the Mini’s never hit anyone.
February 16th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I’m thinking they used Mini-14s because they wanted a weapon with a distinct profile that wouldn’t cause anyone to make assumptions about the “cultural identity” of the “terrorists” they were exercising – the way that using AKs would have. (Plus, like Tam said, they probably had plenty on hand)
February 16th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
My guess is that they were seconds from a Paki police armory.
Cheapest rifles the Paki ISI could issue it’s suicide fedayeen.
February 16th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
*It was pondered that perhaps the police get guns that *look like cameras and dress like reporters.
Sounds like the scene from True Lies. That worked out pretty well in the movie. 🙂
John
February 16th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
well if your aren’t knowledgeable about guns anything with black plastic is an assault rifle.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Hartley,
Those were the cops with the Minis, not roleplayers; those weren’t force-on-force exercises.
They’re using them in that exercise because that’s what NYPD ESU has issued for decades, since they replaced their M1 carbines.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
What with NYPD’s stellar accurate shooting record, choosing a 3 MOA rifle makes perfect sense.
It’s an OK rifle. The non-adjustable stock seems to lead to funny looking shooting positions. The traditional pistol grip stock also does NOT lend itself to muzzle control, as seen in some of the pictures.
But hey, it’s better to look good to the public than fight good.
February 16th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Damnation, I have got to get to these posts faster than Tam. She’s totally right – NYPD ESU has issued Mini-14s for donkey’s years, and for whatever reason, NYPD still has an institutional hard-on for the gun.
February 16th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
oh yeah, and does anyone else think “Hey, lookit the keystone cops” when they see some of those guys running around with their fingers in the trigger guard of those rifles?
February 16th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Tam,
You’re right, of course – I had failed to note the “photo gallery” button and didn’t understand what they were up to.
A pretty motley-looking crew, I might add, including a couple of real porkers – somehow I doubt they start those drills with a nice, brisk 5-mile run..:-)
I noticed the blonde officer shoots her rifle left-handed, but carries her sidearm on the right.. I bet she’s just like my daughter – left-eye dominant.
February 16th, 2009 at 2:28 pm
I figure it would be a good idea to teach them not to blade like the guy in the photo if in a shooting situation. Maybe a darker shirt under the vest would make it harder to see the unprotected areas as well.
February 16th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
John (14), are you referring to the guy in photo #6?
February 16th, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Gun = “assault weapon”.
We hear from a lot of LEs who have Minis. Departments of corrections use them in large numbers also, and a few in state wildlife control. Had one state employee outfitting a Mini with NV, holosight, visible light, IR laser, suppressor, the whole deal, to pop ‘yotes and raccoons. Yeah; what Tam said.
February 16th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act. Provides that any person who owns a firearm in this State shall maintain a policy of liability insurance in the amount of at least $1,000,000 specifically covering any damages resulting from negligent or willful acts involving the use of such firearm while it is owned by such person. Provides that a person shall be deemed the owner of a firearm after the firearm is lost or stolen until such loss or theft is reported to the police department or sheriff of the jurisdiction in which the owner resides. Provides that the Department of State Police shall revoke and seize a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card previously issued under this Act if the Department finds that the person to whom such card was issued possesses or acquires a firearm and does not submit evidence to the Department of State Police that he or she has been issued in his or her name a liability insurance policy in the amount of at least $1,000,000 specifically covering any damages resulting from negligent or willful acts involving the use of such firearm while it is owned by such person. Effective January 1, 2010.