Facts and narrative
The NYT is crapping its pretty little panties:
The nation’s police chiefs are finding an alarming increase in criminals’ use of assault weapons — the high-powered battlefield rifles that used to be banned, back when the federal government showed greater concern for public safety. The 10-year ban expired in 2004, despite the vows of presidential nominees from both parties to fight for renewal. Congress hasn’t mustered the guts to try, preferring to roll over for the gun lobby.
Yet crime and police gun deaths are down?
January 18th, 2010 at 10:29 am
I want to know what high powered means, because I have a feel a lot of US mil members think 5.56 is pretty weak.
January 18th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Has anyone tried messing with them by demanding legislation to seriously regulate the BHP as a “high power” handgun and one explicitly designed with higher ammunition capacity in mind?
January 18th, 2010 at 3:27 pm
I would bet that statement is completly true.
Liberal leaning police chiefs are alarmed at anything involving guns, much less “assault weapons”.
With the recent influx of new gun owners, I would not be surprised if a few of them found their way on the street, just through theft from owners.
Depending on the city… if in 2008 they had 1 weapon recovered and 2009 they had 2, then the total would have doubled. Which as a statistic would be an “alarming increase”.
January 18th, 2010 at 7:34 pm
“Sources, please”.
And since the NYT won’t bother (even online!) to provide anything more than a mention of “a survey” presented at a PERF meeting, I’m just going to assume that as usual the compilation is downright dishonest, not just misleading cherry-picking.
Lazy of me, but it’s a heuristic that has never yet failed in this context.
January 18th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
And what exactly led to this alarming increase since 2004? Must be that we’re allowed to have bayonet lugs again.
January 19th, 2010 at 12:31 am
“that used to be banned”
Boy am I ever glad that I got my high powered battlefield rifle while they were banned. I mean, can you imagine the carnage I’d be capable of if it’d had a retractable stock and a bayonet lug?