Buffalo NY Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda: Don’t Give Cops AR-15s

By Robert Farago

“[Police Benevolent Association’s Vice President John Evans] recently told the Common Council’s Police Oversight Committee that police need more in the way of firepower,” an editorial at New York’s Buffalo News reports. “He would like each of the department’s 450 to 500 patrol officers equipped with the likes of an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, in addition to the .40-caliber Glock service handgun they currently carry.” Evans reckons officers are limited because the handgun has a range of only 50 to 100 yards. The AR-15 is effective at a range of hundreds of yards.” The Police Commissioner and the News disagree . . .

Derenda said department leaders are “studying the proposal,” but questioned whether each officer needs an AR-15 for standard patrol. We agree. Notwithstanding the firearm’s informal label as the civilian counterpart to the military-issued M16 or M4, this is too much lethality.

So it’s not “too much lethality” to be lethal with a handgun but it’s way too lethal to be lethal with rifle.

That aside, Mr. Evans’ argument for arming his officers with AR-15s was misleading and woefully incomplete. A rifle is far more accurate than a handgun at any distance. Which makes them less lethal than a …Read the Rest

Source:: Truth About Guns