Submachine guns, handguns stolen from LAPD SWAT-training site

A cache of Los Angeles Police Department submachine guns and handguns was stolen last week from a secured building used by the department's SWAT unit, raising fears that the weapons, which police had altered to fire only blanks, could be converted back to lethal use, police officials confirmed.
The weapons, which include 21 MP-5 submachine guns and 12 large caliber handguns, were moved Wednesday night to a multistory building at 14th and San Pedro streets downtown and stored in a locked box on the building's first floor, said LAPD Deputy Chief Michael Downing.  Members of the SWAT unit, which specializes in hostage rescues and other high-risk situations, were scheduled to train at the facility... Gun experts and online tutorials suggest, however, that the process is relatively simple and requires only a few parts. The company that manufactures the conversion kits used by the LAPD has an instructional video on its website that walks a viewer through the steps of returning an MP-5 to its original form in about five minutes. The parts required to change the MP-5 back to live firing were for sale on a gun supply website. It was unclear, however, what documentation or background checks would be required to purchase them. The idea that nearly three dozen high-powered submachine guns and .45-caliber handguns could make their way onto the black market or be put to use by criminals worried LAPD officials enough that they notified law enforcement agencies in the region...
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Full article at LA Times...
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LAPD can't catch a break. Trying to crush crime in a town that does not support them, under fire from Cop haters on both sides of the law, this latest gaffe does not help matters, to say the least. The MP-5's are more valuable as collectors items rather than being converted to crime guns (this batch of guns forever tainted by serial numbers, will always be  listed as stolen goods), something the thieves likely do not know...(S9)

Cox: Obama and Holder Still Pleading Ignorance on 'Fast and Furious,' But It’s Getting Harder

I would like to believe that President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder – no matter how much they oppose our Second Amendment rights – would never break the law and endanger human lives in their mission to score political points against gun owners.
I’d like to believe operation “Fast and Furious” is just another example of the Obama administration’s gross incompetence, albeit this time with tragic and deadly results. I’d like to believe that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had nothing but good intentions when it illegally helped transfer thousands of guns to violent drug lords in Mexico.
I’d like to believe this was just a misguided and foolish law enforcement operation gone horribly wrong. However, to believe all of this, I would have to ignore a lot of facts...
I would have to ignore the fact that while Holder’s BATFE was pushing illegal firearms into the hands of known Mexican criminals, President Obama was trying to push his gun control agenda by blaming American gun owners and our Second Amendment rights for Mexican drug crime. In fact, the Obama administration is now requiring gun shops in states that border Mexico to register the firearms sales of any law-abiding American who purchases more than one rifle of certain types....----
Full column by Chris W. Cox at Townhall
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Cox tells it like it is here, including the willingness to kill people to push a gun-ban agenda. Search the archives of this blog for articles that document and support these facts. This is part of the mission statement for this blog, so use these resources...(S9)

Semi-Auto ban stands in D.C.- Minority: Ban is unconstitutional

D.C. laws prohibiting assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices do not violate the Second Amendment, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday...Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg penned the 45-page decision, stating that the District showed a “substantial relationship between the prohibition of both semi-automatic rifles and magazines holding more than ten rounds and the objectives of protecting police officers and controlling crime.”Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson joined Judge Ginsburg in the majority, while Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh said he was sympathetic to the police department’s goal of reducing crime by restricting access to guns but that the prohibitions were unconstitutional. 
Dick Heller, the plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case, was among a group of D.C. residents who challenged the new regulations, claiming the registration procedures, the ban on most semiautomatic weapons and other limitations violated the intent of the high court’s decision.
A U.S. District judge in March 2010 dismissed the lawsuit, and the plaintiffs appealed.
The National Rifle Association, which backed the lawsuit, said in a statement that it disagreed with the decision and would be reviewing the decision and considering all its options.
“When it comes to self-defense, semi-automatic firearms of all types are an increasingly popular choice for most Americans, and the court itself admitted that semiautomatics are in common use...
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Full story at Washington Times
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Notice that Washington Times uses the language of the prohibitionists ("Assault weapons" rather than "Semi-Automatic firearm" and "Large capacity" magazines rather than "Normal capacity" magazines. This is not a Police State and just because the Police (chief) wants something, does not mean you  ignore the Constitution just to make him happy. Please note that D.C. is not a state and has no "Keep and bear arms" language in it's founding documents, making such an unconstitutional decision easier to force through. The minority decision is correct. More stupid lawyer tricks to come...(S9)

St. Petersburg to give police officers loans to purchase semiautomatic rifles

Cops only permitted to buy Colt Brand AR's

"You don't want to be in a situation where someone is shooting at you with a rifle," said Sgt. Tim Brockman, "and you're sitting there with a handgun."
The rifle most commonly used by law enforcement is the AR-15 carbine, a civilian variant of the military's M4 rifle.
But the weapons are so expensive — they cost up to $1,000 each and need to be modified for the individual user — that many departments give them only to special units, like SWAT teams.
That's why Tampa Bay's police agencies have long allowed patrol officers to buy their own.
The problem, according to patrol Sgt. Chris Emmert, was that not every officer could afford the expense of buying and equipping such a weapon. He's spent $2,500 on his own rifle.
"The younger or newer officers on the low end of the pay scale didn't have the financial means," Emmert said, "especially when trying to support their families."...

The ultimate goal, according to Emmert, is to have more firepower than your adversary...
The nation's police agencies learned in 1997 that they can't always wait for SWAT. That's when two heavily armed bank robbers outgunned dozens of Los Angeles officers armed with only revolvers, pistols and shotguns.
In the years since, the rifles have become standard issue. When St. Petersburg finally let street officers use their own rifles in 2004, it was one of the last Tampa Bay agencies to do so.
The move was spurred in part by a 2003 St. Petersburg incident: suspects armed with SKS rifles killed a bystander in a drive-by shooting, then fired at pursuing officers.
More recently, high-powered rifles were blamed for one of the city's worst tragedies. Police said an 8-year-old girl was killed in 2009 when her house was raked by AR-15 rifles.
The St. Petersburg Police Department is poised to undergo even more tactical changes today, proposals that were also spurred by the recent officer casualties..."But I don't think the public is worried about law enforcement officers. I think they're worried about the threats law enforcement seems to be facing."
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Full Story is HERE
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Like all too many agencies, roadblocks, harassment, excessive training requirements, and fear of public reaction has kept officers from reasonably obtaining patrol rifles. For these Florida Officers, they had to actually lose people by gunfire before they were grudgingly "permitted" to have the option to obtain patrol rifles. Much too high a price just for an equipment upgrade!...(S9)

Russia: Too Many AK Rifles in Stock (Video)

Full story HERE