Weekly Roundup

Every week, we'll feature a round up of the noteworthy and interesting gun-related things happening on the frontier; and whatever might catch our fancy.

Douglas County, CO, School Cops Buy ARs

The Douglas County, Colorado, school district police purchased ten semi-automatic Bushmaster AR-15 style rifles for its patrol officers, ABC7 Denver, reported in a surprisingly unsensational way. ​Of course, in other places, LAUSD (California), parental shorts were browned when it was learned that the school district police obtained military surplus AR-15 style rifles, resulting in the rifles return to military custody.
 
The police union boss said:

​There’s an inaccurate picture being painted by a lot of people out there that our officers are walking around all day long on these school campuses with rifles strapped across their body. And that’s completely inaccurate.

​Crazy California mother made the usual illogical anti-gunner argument:

​I would say you fight fire with fire. So maybe that’s a good policy. But I don’t know because I’m really against arms and firearms.

Gun owners will know that semi-automatic AR-15 is an excellent self-defense and patrol rifle platform due to its versatility, magazine capacity, and the ability, with the right ammo, to penetrate obstacles and body armor. Interestingly, 5.56mm rifle ammo penetrates less than some pistol rounds (mainly because it’s designed to tumble through flesh). The Kent, Washington, PD found:

​The ranges of gunfights have increased, due largely to better tactics on the part of the police.  The distance from curb to porch, in most suburban neighborhoods, can be twenty-five (25) yards or more; this is dangerously pushing the capabilities of most pistol shooters.
 
This firearm is more effective in stopping the deadly actions of a dangerous person as it is more accurate and 2-3 times more powerful than any handgun carried by Kent PD officers.  While more powerful, this firearm is safer to use within the community as it presents less danger to bystanders from over-penetrating or ricocheting projectiles than do the standard issue handgun or the traditional 12 gauge shotgun. (original emphasis)

From Police Chief Magazine:

With better police weapons capability, the duration of a violent confrontation and the volume of gunfire may be reduced, thus limiting civilian casualties during the encounter.
 
Less Excessive Penetration: Some opponents of police use of rifles have argued that a rifle, particularly when used in urban locations, has a much higher risk than either a handgun or shotgun of penetrating into unintended areas such as nearby buildings. However, many rifle proponents assert that rifle rounds of .223 caliber may actually present less of a hazard in this regard. This is particularly the case when ammunition of certain types is employed, because of the high-velocity .223 round’s tendency to fragment upon striking solid objects. A number of authorities who have addressed this very point have concluded that the typical .223 rifle round, while effective in piercing a criminal’s body armor, is in fact less likely to penetrate walls or other environmental obstacles than standard issue police duty handgun ammunition, and are therefore actually safer in the urban environment.
 
[…] Nevertheless, because of the high-velocity .223 round’s tendency to fragment upon striking solid objects, the rifle could actually be less prone to excessive penetration than other police firearms.

Jim Reed with his Ithaca 37 and its totally not scary wood furniture

Of course, shotguns have their benefits and not everyone is ready to dump them. While the black rifle should be feared, the sight and sound of even a supposedly more tame looking wood-stocked riot-gun of Adam-12 fame being shucked by Deputy Bubba is intimidating. One benefit is that with buckshot, accuracy is less important, although the Hollywood trope of pointing the shotgun in the general direction of the bad guy while the .33” balls magically find their target is less than accurate, excuse the pun.
 
Slugs are incredibly powerful, accurate, and have top-end stopping power. In fact, many law enforcement agencies mandate the use of slugs, calling their shotguns “urban rifles.” Rifled shotguns can reach out to the 75 yard range maximum seen in most (not all) police shootings. Yet slugs can’t do it all, like reliably penetrate body armor. Of course, some servicemen might have a bone to pick with the penetration capabilities of M855, which isn’t as dangerous to cops as the Obama administration would love to lie to you and the trauma would kick your ass.
 
Veteran cop and legendary firearms instructor Massad Ayoob says there is a place for both the patrol rifle and shotgun.

---

---

Misc.

Open carrier shoots attacker (Louisiana)

Dumbass of the Week: Las Vegas Toddler Accidentally Shot By Father
Couple of things: Who takes their toddler to a car wash in the middle of the night and cleans their gun there? Something is just not right with that picture. Truth be told, the dad was probably improperly fingering his trigger and shot his kid. Going out a limb here, but this is probably the kind of person who doesn't bother taking any training courses or a "gun license" (no such thing Fox 5). Will the father face criminal charges? How about manslaughter? 99.9% of guns don't fire themselves.

Also, keep an eye on the Nevada Carry blog for important news...

---

Israeli-American SWAT Rifles

The Firearm Blog posted an article about Kalashnikov pattern rifles used by American cops, featuring the Glacier County Sheriff’s Dept, Montana, and decidedly not-one-of-our-states, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, California, of which I may or may not have a picture of one of the famous Galil's stacked up with about 40 other SWAT weapons.

The semi-auto Galils were used for improved dust and mud performance in the fairly rural county just north of LA. And yes, that is a airgun used for less-than-lethal purposes.