pistols for assault rifles

[MichaelHarris]

"In 2009, 47 officers were shot and killed in the line of duty in the U.S. – a 24-percent increase from the previous year, according to the National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund.

In April, three Pittsburgh officers were killed and twowounded after a man armed with an AK-47 opened fire during a standoff. A month earlier, three officers died in Oakland, Calif., when a suspect opened fire with an assault rifle."

http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/dekalb-police-beef-up-282331.html?cxtype=rss_news_128746

Oh yeah I left the question mark off the other post. I bet you had some fun with that before the mod locked it.

[X_Digger]

1. But but but.. PA has strict gun laws! Brady says so!

But Pennsylvania, the state with the most gun-related officer deaths so far this year, has among the strictest gun laws in the country, according to a ranking by the pro-gun-control Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Other states, like Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kentucky, have very little oversight and had few, if any, officer gun deaths this year.

"But folks who are willing to intentionally target police officers seem to be able to find a way to accrue guns regardless of what the laws in those state would be," Morison said.

Overall gunfire deaths have more or less been on a steady decline for decades as more tools become available to keep officers safe. More officers are required to wear bullet-resistant vests. There's also better and faster medical care to save an officer's life.

In 1973, during a heyday of corruption and crime, there were around 600,000 officers and about 156 gunfire deaths. Currently, there are about 900,000 law enforcement officers in the U.S. and only 47 gunfire deaths this year -- a per-capita decrease of nearly 21 percent.

Despite the increase in the number of gunfire deaths from 2008, there have been fewer overall officer deaths so far this year: 117, compared with 125 last year, according to the statistics. The major reason is that traffic deaths are down 24 percent. emphasis added

So gun laws have little effect when people target cops specifically. I'll wait for the FBI stats, thanks. (you can see them here when they come out- http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm)

Oh, that reminds me.. since you last flailed around about scawwy eEEee-bul rifles, we got the expanded data from the 2008 UCR (http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/data/table_20.html).

Of all homicides, over twice as many people were killed by hands and feet as with rifles. There were five times as many homicides with knives or other cutting instruments as with rifles. Heck, even if you include shotguns it's still more than two to one. Rifles represent 2.6% of all homicides- a number that's been pretty steady for the last fifteen years, regardless of any assault weapon ban implementation or lapse.

p.s. Right, I'm sure you left off the question mark on that other post.. I think you knocked your desk over jerking your knee so hard. It's a shame stupidity doesn't leave a visible bruise.

[slackmaster]

2. OK

[Euromutt]

3. After 2008 produced a 32% drop from the number killed in 2007

Alarmist reports of how the number of LEOs killed increased in 2009 compared to 2008 are so fucking pointless. The explanation is that 2009 wasn't an extraordinarily bad year; it's that 2008 was a comparatively light one. If you look at this table http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/killed/2008/data/table_01.html you'll see that from 2000-2007, the number of LEOs killed annually has almost always been in the range 48-58. In that context, 2009 was less bad than the rest of the decade.

And as this table http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/killed/2008/data/table_27.html indicates, the number of LEOs killed with rifles has actually been declining in recent years. There were actually more officers killed with rifles each year before the AWB lapsed than after.

It just goes to show you can prove anything if you cherry-pick two data points that support the scary story you want to tell, and ignore the rest. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is far from unique in having repeated this sensationalist claim.

[krispos42]

8. Oh, c'mon now.

You know it's FAR more fun to argue gun laws like the oil companies argue global warming!

[rd_kent]

4. yeah, and?

[rd_kent]

5. SO you just admitted that you posted intentional flamebait in your previous posts?

I sure hope there is pizza in your future....

[MichaelHarris]

6. what are you

talking about? You're delusional man, get some help.

[rd_kent]

7. "Oh yeah I left the question mark off the other post. I bet you had some fun with that before....."

Oh yeah I left the question mark off the other post. I bet you had some fun with that before the mod locked it.


Sounds like an admission to me.....






And the only one delusional here is you, drive-by.

[SteveM]

12. Sooo, how many people were killed by "assault weapons" in the U.S.? nt

[ManiacJoe]

9. This part seemed a bit odd.

For O’Brien, the problem was two-fold : The department’s 9 mm Berettas were more than 20 years old and no longer manufactured.

Beretta is still cranking out the 92FS. Great gun even if it is a bit large for a 9mm pistol.

[Euromutt]

10. That's not the only odd part

Officers on the streets also found their 9 mm guns could not compete with those in the hands of criminals armed with .40-caliber handguns and assault rifles.

While the .40 S&W has, all other things being equal, more muzzle energy than the 9x19mm, it's lower velocity actually makes it less effective against body armor. That's a large part of why the .40 is the most common police round in the U.S.; if a suspect snatches a cop's gun, it's less likely to penetrate his vest if it's a .40 than if it's a 9mm or a .357 SIG. If the bad guys are using more .40s and fewer 9mms, that's good news for the cops.

It's also pretty unusual for an article to in effect acknowledge that an "assault weapon"-type rifle and a "patrol rifle" are the same thing, differing only in who's holding it. I think (hope) it's a sign that the term "assault weapon" has become so overused that it doesn't really carry any odium any more.

[benEzra]

11. Rifle crime is declining. The number of LEO's killed by rifles is declining.

And your scaremongering doesn't seem to be working, since support for banning rifle handgrips and magazines that stick out is lower than it has ever been. We'll keep our rifles, thanks...lawfully and responsibly. And we won't even remove the yucky handgrips and magazines that seem to bother you so much.

FWIW, if you've ever posted an article fearmongering about wooden-stocked Ruger mini-14's or Winchester .30-30's, I've missed it, even though police officers have been killed by both.

[dashrif]

13. I

bet lighting kills more people in the US than ASSAULT RIFLES see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_rifle

edit: for spelling