Franks Used to be against the law to use the military against a civillian population unless you were in a theater of declared war(with NORTHCOM;seems we are there already). Surely you can see you are preaching to the choir here( the entire"monkey tree") when it comes to the2nd...After seeing the scores of tasing video and "OFFICER" Rivieri" ( batimore pd)my impression of leo has changed drastically and in the wrong direction. Every GD****podunk PD has black fatigues and a swat team for civillian law enforcement. I think its a heavy handed viagra replacement for guys who got disrespected when they were young mall cops...I don't think john law "has my back" anymore.I do think once hilary;'s amnesty period runs out and they start knocking on doors this will be parked in my front yard. Pointed at civillians. And they won't be able to hear any "what about my Second amendment rights claims"over the bark of the .50. Don't give me the "if you've got nothing to hide" you've got nothing to worry about" stuff. Anymore in this country the laws say basically any domestic crime can be twisted to be declared domestic terrorism. When this all started we had these national guard troops (fresh cropped kids with m-16's)walking around our little one -gate local airport. Don't know what that was supposed to prove, it was a show. Any ready to "die- hard" terrorist witha backpack woulda runup and give them a great big bearhug. It was bs...
I WAS AT A TRAINING WITH THE FBI A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AND WE DISCUSSED THE ISSUE OF SWAT DYNAMIC ENTRIES FOR SIMPLE KNOCK ON THE DOOR WARRENT SERVICE AND THEIR RESPONSE WAS "WHEN YOU ARE A HAMMER, EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE A NAIL.."
Francis, Back on topic. As to what to ask the Sherrif I would suggest asking him in what type of scenario he invisioned having need of such a high power weapon. Then if he spouts off something such as a terrorist situation or a barricaded Waco type standoff etc. I would ask him how many times that has happened in the past and if he believes that there is that serious of a threat in his jurisdiction. (most would be loathe to have thier county thought of as a hot bed for that kind of activities.) Also you can cite the U.S. army's testing of the .50 cal. in which they documented a penetration completely through 5 houses and into a 6th. They did this at an abandoned military base and shot it at the unused base housing units to test it's penetration abilities. I'm sorry I don't have any links for verification but it is a fairly well known story in the .50 cal community. It is also documented penetrating concrete block walls. Also I would suggest you go to; http://www.biggerhammer.net/barrett/wwwboard/ and ask there. That is the premier .50 cal shooters website. But be forewarned the folks there are not nearly as gracious and accomadating as we monkeys. I seldom go there anymore due to all the arguing and flame wars.
Thanks to everyone for their opinions and suggestions on this matter. I will continue to do some research and hopefully some eyes in the area will be opened. Thanks again Monkeys!
Minuteman the gong through house parts is kinda loaded if you go and shoot a stick home then yeah shoot a brick home and that changes. yes, that local LEO are become more militarize I understand. Like seacowboy said when your a hammer everything looks like a nail. Special SRT teams in large cities are fine and with small sheriffs office being a little strong ok but obviously not to be ued for a warrant etc.
Well needless to say, the houses were your standard run of the mill clap board sided frame structures. As to the militarization of our local LEO departments that is a valid concern. The ultra penetration rate of the .50 BMG round simply does not have any practical use in an urban environment, outside of a battlefield. IMHO. That said, hell yes anyone of us has the right to own one, semi or full auto, for whatever reason we may have or for no reason whatsoever. I would have no problem with the Sheriff, or any of his deputies owning one personally. But for it to be deployed as a part of thier departments arsenal is just grandstanding to me and I see no purpose in it.
I'll add my voice to the choir..... If the sheriff wants to own one personally, great! For them to deploy it as a tool for a governmental agency... NO FRIKIN WAY! Like SC's quote Which pretty much sums up most of our "bad LEO" threads of late.
My question to the sheriff would be "Why do you feel the need to murder citizens in your jurisdiction?" When they ask what you mean point out that an armored vehicle is impervious to any legally owned firearm. That being the case, why does he feel the need to shoot and kill citizens who cannot possibly harm him. There's no need for an offensive weapon on a vehicle that protects it's driver. Why doesn't he mount a tear gas dispenser, or a tazer firing slit?
MBrodge, have you ever been to knob creek? Just wondering if you would sit inside that APC parked down range and see if you come out at the end of the day. Great points of view by all.
So you think that is a likely scenario for a Sheriff to face Franks71vw? A firing line of miniguns, potato diggers and Ma Deuces? My point was that the Sheriff isn't going to face a threat like that. He'd most likely be going up against gang bangers with 9's which do not pose a threat to an M-113.
Yeah your right! You know what I wonder, why terrorist groups have paid MS13 gangs large sums of money to get people into this country. Now figure that if MS13 members now have this large amount of cash what could they buy on the blackmarket yeah 9mm pistol with sights installed on the side. Yup your right... Pray for the best prepare for the worst thats my mentality
One thing I may well be wrongon but I THOUGHT I had heard that.50 cal machine guns were kind of like the 20mm and some of the others that were considered to be illegal under international law to use as antipersonel weapons and was only allowed to be used on 'equiptment' which in a military situation can be gotten around by shooting their backpack but if Im correct that it is in that class of weapons it would seem to me that that might make it a bit hard to justify for law enforcement use.
Ask your sherrif this: "Since you have a military vehicle with a military weapon, and dress like the military, do you consider yourself military, and whether you think you do or not, you are making youself into a uniformed combatant, do you plan on abiding the Geneva Convention?" I bet the logic that is going to be used is that .50 rifles are becoming prolific, they need something that can outgun the "enemy".
i think it's overkill. but he prides himself on being "cutting edge", for example RCSD was the first to get it's own crime lab, their SWAT team uses p-90's, the C.A.T. team had Z-28's like the HP pursuit team, etc etc.
the budgets pretty much operate under the principle of "use it or lose it". if he doesn't spend it all...it gets cut for next year.
Oh, so he has enough money left over after community relations, cost of living adjustments, pay increases, and the myriad of other things that haunt every other law enforcement entity that he can afford hot rods, APC's, machine guns, and the ammo to go with it? I want to come live in your county, I've never seen a community so secure that they have money left over after the priority things that they can buy cool toys. That was sarcasm if you couldn't tell! This is the kind of crap that fuels the disrespect for law enforcement that the real good guys have to deal with on a daily basis. I have a friend in a LEA that hasn't fired more than 40 rounds through his patrol carbines since they were given them two years ago because they can't afford the ammunition and this guy is buying Z-28s and armored vehicles!!