As far as The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence is concerned, it’s always time for an assault weapons ban. Oops! Did I say assault weapons? I mean home defense guns. Of course, it’s hard to euphemize an AK-47 and SKS when said weapons are strewn on the street by fleeing felons. Not to mention the brace of Bushmasters found in their van. In fact, the cache chronicled by philly.com provides ample ammunition for gun control advocates, their media supporters and the police (more on that later). “Philadelphia police ‘outgunned’ in last week’s shooting” the paper’s headline and the Brady Bunch blog proclaims. Only one problem: they weren’t.
His guy shouldn’t have had a chance.
That’s all Lt. Vincent Testa, head of the Philadelphia Police Department’s firearms investigation unit, could muster as he surveyed the “military-style” weapons recovered last week on the 3000 block of North Water Street in Kensington – where Officer Kevin Livewell escaped with only a leg wound after exchanging gunfire with driver Ramon De Jesus and at least one of two heavily armed passengers in his white van.
“They were outgunned,” Testa said. “I couldn’t believe we didn’t have several dead officers.”
So they were outgunned in theory. And while the police shouldn’t have had a chance, obviously, they did. Sure, it could have turned out another way. But it didn’t. In the same sense that millions of owners of AR-15 style weapons could go psycho and shoot-up their local Chuck E. Cheese or Post Office. But don’t.
Despite the firepower amassed by the bad guys, the officer in this crime was shot with a handgun.
In fact, handguns are the criminals’ weapon of choice. They’re light, concealable, intimidating, easy to purchase illegally, inexpensive and reasonably accurate. When it comes to violent crime, rifles are statistically insignificant. firearmsid.com crunched the numbers back in 2000, for 1993.
The FBI’s Supplemental Homicide Reports show that in 1993 57% of all murders were committed with handguns, 3% with rifles, 5% with shotguns, and 5% with firearms where the type was unknown.
Do the stats still stand seventeen year later? Probably. When it comes to rifle murders, you can still probably RIDTZ (Round It Down to Zero).
Yes, when AKs are used, bad things happen. The recent shooting in Arkansas, where an AK-47-wielding nutcase shot West Memphis Officer Bill Evans [see: YouTube video above] illustrates the point . Would it have made any difference if Joe Kane had been armed with a handgun, shotgun or a more traditional hunting rifle?
For the record, in January of this year, Philly police cleared their officers to carry .40 and .45 caliber Glocks. Their SWAT team is, as you’d imagine, armed to the teeth. Some narcotics officers have access to AR-15s, upon request.
I called Officer Russell of the Philadelphia Police Department to ask if they’ve equipped their patrol cars with long guns (shotguns or rifles). “Not at this time,” she replied. Hang on; does that mean that the policy is under review? “Yes it is.”
And there you have it: the reason that Lt. Testa is so testy about the arsenal discovered during yesterday’s incident. The cops are angling for bigger, better guns. Fair enough? Perhaps. But what about the article’s inaccuracies, as pointed out by commentator fcs25?
If you are going to talk about weapons then its always best to know what you are talking about instead of spouting anti-gun rhetoric designed to persuade the public of the truth of a falsehood.The ballistics of the stated weapons in this article are false as each bullet has a different profile and intended use. The Ak and SKS shoot a 7.62*39mm round which is “not” overly powerful and does not have a muzzle velocity of 3000 fps.The AK and SKS have a MV of 2300 fps,which is considered a low powered 30 caliber round. In contrast a typical hunting round such as the 308 has a MV of 2820 fps, a 30.06 has a MV of 2900 fps.The AK round can not compare with these typical American hunting rounds.The AR-15 round is a .22 caliber bullet with a MV of about 3200 fps,this is the round used by the military and also for small varment hunting, rabbits, squirrels and other “small” game.The pistols mentioned in this article do not shoot bullet proof vest penetrating rounds, this comment in the article really shows either the stupidity of the police department spokesman or it shows intentional lies in order to deceive the public into believing the gun control loons. When you can’t debate using truth and facts you descend into a web of lies and falsehoods in order to promote your false agenda.
As for Brady’s bandwagoneering, what else do you expect? Me, I’d expect them to call for another assault weapons ban which, strangely, they haven’t. Maybe they’re waiting for a “proper” assault weapon-based tragedy.
Perish the thought.
