Tex, how do fellow cops feel about such weapons being pretty easily available to the general public legally as long as you're not a convicted felon, on probation/ parole, a mental patient , etc ? It seems you're pretty much good to go if just 18, and no serious criminal record. You can buy an assault rifle 3 years before you can buy a beer. That has to be considered a bit convoluted . It would overpower anything a local cop has for sure, time for the SWAT team I guess if you're facing that kind of firepower. I know Texans love guns, so interesting to see what a cop thinks about it, especially a Texas cop !
Isn't that a bit of Overkill Tex ? You need an AR-15 for simple target shooting instead of perhaps something like a .22 rifle ? It looks to me like ammo for the AR-15 runs close to 40 cents a round vs less than 4 cents for a 22. I abhor giving up my rights but also don't want to have millions of criminals having such easy access to such powerful weapons, I'm torn on this particular point, and leaning towards let it remain as is, and if some retailers stop carrying such items, it's likely what their attorneys advise. I sure the Hell don't want to take guns away from people in places like Alaska and Texas where they are so ubiquitous, especially from a qualified owner like a cop . Personally I've never felt the need to own a real gun, I had air rifles as a lad. The only time even shot a real gun was back aroun 1989 in Vegas, went out to the desert and shot some cans and such with a buddy of mine, it was a large caliber handgun, definitely bigger than a 38, more like a 45, kind of an odd choice for target practice but it was about getting to play with a handgun and shoot off some rounds, only time in in my life I shot anything more powerful than an air rifle ! Haven't touched again since, so like 30 years, but I'm not completely ignorant about them either !
Leave it be as is, is my updated stance on it.
I don't need an AR-15, or even just a simple handgun like a 9 mm or a 38 or something, but I could legally obtain one . I feel safe enough, in fact I don't even lock my house ever anymore, I feel almost like a Canadian in that respect.
It's not overkill at all. Shotguns take too long to load and usually only hold 6 shells, handguns are more difficult for people with weaker hands to control, and factor in that the police miss more shots than they make on average when they're in a gunfight. Having a 30 round magazine that you can easily load into a gun with little recoil makes it the best home defense weapon.
Realistically you're going to have multiple attackers, and you'll need at least 2 or 3 well placed shots per attacker to neutralize them. Factor in that again, odds are that most bullets will miss, and you'll need to fire a lot of bullets. Before you tall me that shotguns are just needed to be pointed in a general direction, keep in mind that the shot from a shotgun only spreads about 1 inch per yard it moves away from the muzzle of the gun.
I love that you think an AR-15 is some big powerful weapon.
LOL
Anyway, here is an example of a police officer with a Glock .45 shooting down 2 nuts with "assault rifles"
This morning I went to dicks at the coral springs location. This is the closest dicks to Stoneman Douglass and its about a 10-15 min drive.
I walked to the area where they used to sell guns (the gun rack was empty but i think they still sold ammo but not 100% sure). I asked them if they sold guns there at all anymore. They told me no. I then asked if any stores sold guns. They told me that none south of this store and the furthest south that you could buy guns at dicks was in their Wellington store (probably about a 45-60 minute drive northwest of that store).
I then asked if the store was losing a lot of business b/c of lost revenues of NOT selling guns. They told me no b/c guns were never a big seller in the store.
So my uneducated hypothesis is, "Its easy to ban guns from a store if they really werent making you money anyway. That way, you can take a stand, and still not piss off your customer base. "
BTW, i said this in a previous post and will say again that Dicks does a lot in this community by sponsoring many youth sports teams and giving us 20% off coupons many times so we can buy our gear at dicks. They have been awesome supporters and I will continue to give them my business (like i did this morning)
I walked to the area where they used to sell guns (the gun rack was empty but i think they still sold ammo but not 100% sure). I asked them if they sold guns there at all anymore. They told me no. I then asked if any stores sold guns. They told me that none south of this store and the furthest south that you could buy guns at dicks was in their Wellington store (probably about a 45-60 minute drive northwest of that store).
I then asked if the store was losing a lot of business b/c of lost revenues of NOT selling guns. They told me no b/c guns were never a big seller in the store.
So my uneducated hypothesis is, "Its easy to ban guns from a store if they really werent making you money anyway. That way, you can take a stand, and still not piss off your customer base. "
BTW, i said this in a previous post and will say again that Dicks does a lot in this community by sponsoring many youth sports teams and giving us 20% off coupons many times so we can buy our gear at dicks. They have been awesome supporters and I will continue to give them my business (like i did this morning)
I assume its the speed at which it fires rounds, not the power.
