It has been an unbelieveably tragic few weeks in law enforcement in this nation. First this Oakland tragedy, followed quickly by the deaths in Pittsburgh. I have been advocating for years that patrol officers in our cities and towns need to be better armed. In large cities, this seems to run into political roadblocks. In small towns, it is frequently a budget issue.
Enough is enough. Every patrol officer in America should have some type of rifle or submachine gun in their vehicle, ready to deploy. I don’t mean locked in the station, “just in case” or any other of the half-solutions that the pundits feel they can live with. It is time.
Cops have known for years that we are terribly out-gunned out there. Do I know that the Oakland cops or the Pittsburgh officers would have been saved? Certainly not. But in Oakland, the first rifles to arrive on scene were after the suspect was barricaded, giving him an incredible tactical advantage.
If these two incidents are not enough for the liberal folks to arm us properly, perhaps this article on cross-border drug violence will convince them. The time of our cops fighting military-grade rifles with pistols must end now. Maybe it will help save a few cops at the next Oakland or Pittsburgh…
