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Some gun makers try to keep their guns out of police hands
A few weeks ago, New York State passed a new gun law, restricting what kind of guns New Yorkers can own. Now, some gun manufacturers say they won't do business with the State of New York.
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A few weeks ago, New York State passed a new gun law, restricting what kind of guns New Yorkers can own. That upset a lot of people, including gun manufacturers, and a few of them have taken the matter into their own hands.
“It just didn’t make sense to us,” Brian Schuetz says. He co-owns Olympic Arms, a company that specializes in AR-15s -- a firearm that is now illegal in New York State.
“If a citizen, you know, can’t own it, I don’t understand the reasoning why the law enforcement community should have it.”
From now on, they won’t be able to have any Olympic Arms guns. Schuetz says the manufacturer won’t do business with the State of New York.
LaRue Tactical made the same decision. So did a company called EFI, which makes long-range precision rifles.
According to its president, Melinda Meador, there shouldn’t be exceptions for a police officer or a sheriff.
“If I can’t sell it to a member of the public, I’m not selling it to him,” she says.
EFI added New York to a list that already includes Washington, D.C., Chicago, and California -- places that also have strict gun laws.
Meador estimates government sales account for about ten percent of her business.
“To tell you the truth, Dave, we’re not worried about it,” John Grebert says. He is the executive director of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, a group that supported the new gun law in New York State.
But, he adds, “I think it’s pretty unfortunate that any business thinks they can bully us.”
Because people in law enforcement deal with criminals every days, Grebert thinks they have, “a greater right” to weapons, "to deal with potentially violent situations.” And Grebert says he’s confident police will still have access to the equipment they need “to get the job done right.”
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What a moronic statement. We ensure that our military has the most powerful and modern equipment BECAUSE they are protecting US. Our police departments protect US so they should be given the same latitude. This has absolutely nothing to do with the constitution and is clearly a strategic tacit used by the manufacturers to sway policy makers. Citizens aren't allowed to own the same weapons as our military and our police departments should also have access to equipment that should not be in the hands of the general public. What would you think if the police didn't show up to protect the citizens of a community because they were "out-gunned" by the bad guys - you would be outraged. And remember what our french friend Lapierre said - we need a good with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun. Well if the goods guys show up with hands guns and the bad guys full automatic weapons BECAUSE they have access that the police don't the outcome won't be so pleasant. Use a little common sense. The police ARE on our side, give them the capability to do their jobs safely and effectively. Remember they have families to go home to every night just like us. Let's make sure they all go home every night because they are protecting us every day and risk their lives for us every single day.
First off, the police are not obligated to protect us. They do not have to show up to an incident. This has been established time and time again through SCOTUS decisions. Secondly, police do not need nor should they have access to full automatic firearms. Full auto is designed for suppression fire and as an area effect capability. Neither of which has any role in civilian law enforcement. If cops want to play with machine guns, they need to repeal the ban and the cops can buy a machine gun to privately own and enjoy off duty. They do not need that capability on the job and should not have it. And as for the remark of good guys, law abiding citizens are the good guys. I find it disturbing and offensive that anyone wants to disarm law abiding citizens of any firearms at all. That reeks of tyranny and oppression as history has proven time and time again.
On the point of risking their lives for us. As has been stated by another commenter. Cops rarely arrive on the scene when a violent crime is underway. They aren't the ones that need the ability to stop the crime, it's the would be victims that need it more.
Oh, and yes, citizens can have full automatic firearms. There are about 250,000 of them in legal circulation right now in private hands in the US. They just had to have been made before 1986 and registered then. But, this brings up a couple of interesting points. Of those 250,000 legally owned machine guns, only two have been used in a crime since 1934. Both were by off duty cops. One was a murder, the other a murder suicide. The other point is that DOJ stated a few years ago that they estimate there are about three times the number of unregistered machine guns circulating in the US than there are registered ones. Maybe we should repeal the ban and open the registry to new submissions to get an idea of where these machine guns are.
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