Close the parking lot loophole

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I think the Brady Bunch needs to campaign to close the parking lot loophole...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/16/BAR814P2MS.DTL

Rifle, ammo stolen from cruiser in CHP parking lot in Martinez



(12-16) 09:52 PST MARTINEZ -- A thief cut through a fence at the California Highway Patrol's Martinez office early today, broke into a cruiser and made off with a semiautomatic rifle and ammunition, authorities said.



The theft was discovered about 12:30 a.m. in the locked parking lot of the Highway Patrol office at 5001 Blum St., said CHP Sgt. Trent Cross. The culprit cut through the fence, broke into a Ford Crown Victoria cruiser and stole the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and ammunition, Cross said.


No arrests have been made.

Thefts from police cars are unusual but not unheard of. Last year, a man was shot and wounded after he broke into an Antioch police car and grabbed the AR-15 inside.

In 2006, someone broke into a San Mateo County sheriff's detective's car and took a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol and two magazines. The weapon was later used in several bank robberies on the Peninsula, including a heist in San Mateo in which a shot was fired.

In 2001, a thief made off with a master key to the fleet for the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Department and got into a SWAT team member's car, stealing an AR-15, two MP-5 machine pistols, ammunition and flash-bang grenades.

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Well, I imagine that until these people are caught this kind of shopping HAS to be cheaper than retail prices.

And one more thing, if the police can't protect their own things (or if their issued gear doesn't mean much to them to begin with) who says they'll care about a civilian's life or property.

And another point, I would say that this is a prime example of how desperate the country is getting. Pretty soon we all need to be a bit more vigilant in our convictions of self preservation...

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"AR-15 ammo..."
What constitutes "AR-15 ammo"????
is it different than standard rifle ammo?
I have shot the same .223 ammo and .308 ammo respectively in both standard 'deer rifles' as well as 'AR-15s' without a hitch... am I doing something wrong?

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Well, you better only use the AR-15 ammo in your AR-15. Using hunting ammo won't work since it's an assault rifle and all. I mean, you have to use that assault rifle ammo in it. That makes it scarier.

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I'm scared just because you said that nasty AR-word...

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*

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Humm... Something is dreadfully wrong here. While I understand that some equipment is left in vehicles in all departments, unless you are talking about a SWAT armory truck, the firearms would typically be removed and placed in a locker when the car is out of service.

I can't believe that a department (in California of all places) is leaving firearms in out of service cars in a parking lot of all places. Especially firearms that the average citizen cannot possess in that state. Why don't they save the bad guy some trouble and just set them outside the station house door at night?

Well at least all you "left coasters" know where you can find weapons when you need them.

Regards

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"stole the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and ammunition"

How come when a cop has one it's not an "assault rifle"

"two MP-5 machine pistols"

Since when is an MP-5 a pistol.

I can't believe I'm complaining about a news article not using inflammatory anti gunner terms, but isn't it typical that terms like "assault rifle" and "machine gun" don't appear in reference to cop weapons.

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thorvaldr wrote:

"two MP-5 machine pistols"

Since when is an MP-5 a pistol.

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Since at least the 1918, when "MP" was used in the designation of the MP18, an abbreviation of the German Maschinenpistole, which literally means "Machine pistol" and is used in the same form today in the name of, among others, the MP5.

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Pointman wrote:

Gator5713 wrote:

"AR-15 ammo..."
What constitutes "AR-15 ammo"????
is it different than standard rifle ammo?
I have shot the same .223 ammo and .308 ammo respectively in both standard 'deer rifles' as well as 'AR-15s' without a hitch... am I doing something wrong?

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Yes, it is different. Soft-primered .223 ammo is "hunting ammo" and can cause the gun to go full-auto due to a slight amount of travel the firing pin experiences when the bolt slams closed. The ATF recently used this fact to convict David Olofson for transferring a machine gun. (Never mind he had to know it was a machine gun to be breaking the law, it was the wrong ammunition, and technically that's a malfunction...)

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The really sad part of this story is that Olympic Arms had put out a recall for that model of rifle because of a defect which caused slam firing. It would fire3 rounds and then jam. During the test they could only get it to repeat the problem using a couple of brands of ammo, most ammo (even commercial hunting ammo) just would not do it. It was obviously a malfunction, yet he was convicted.

A copy of the video of the test can be found onthe JFPO website.

Beware, if you have a semi-auto and it malfunctions, you too could be convicted of possessing an unregistered machine gun.

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opusd2 wrote:

I'm scared just because you said that nasty AR-word...

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THen you must be scared on national "Talk like a pirate day"

Arrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

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Theseus wrote:

opusd2 wrote:

I'm scared just because you said that nasty AR-word...

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THen you must be scared on national "Talk like a pirate day" Arrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

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Carefully observed by the boat crews and office staff here on the Island.

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You know, that could be a debilitating disease! Ever since that episode of Gilligan's Island! I can't even take the ferry across anymore without my sword and puffy shirt, savvy?

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opusd2 wrote:

You know, that could be a debilitating disease! Ever since that episode of Gilligan's Island! I can't even take the ferry across anymore without my sword and puffy shirt, savvy?

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Molto bene! Conosco.

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marshaul wrote:

thorvaldr wrote:

"two MP-5 machine pistols"

Since when is an MP-5 a pistol.

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Since at least the 1918, when "MP" was used in the designation of the MP18, an abbreviation of the German Maschinenpistole, which literally means "Machine pistol" and is used in the same form today in the name of, among others, the MP5.

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Really? Did you look at the picture in the Wiki you linked? Does that thing, or an MP5 meet the legal definition of a pistol? The first rifle to be called and assault rifle, the Sturmgewehr 44, was originally call the Maschinenpistole 44. A weird German name doesn't make something a pistol. Are you saying that if there were a news report concerning my having an MP-5 the word "pistol" would ever appear? No they would say machine gun. For news reports about a normal person, you're lucky if you they don't say things like "automatic weapon" and assault rifle" when they are talking about an SKS.

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I don't need to look at any wiki pages to know that the Sturmgewehr 44 was also called the MP44. My point was that obviously the reporter wasn't knowledgeable enough to recognize that MP might be an abbreviation for "machine pistol" but it doesn't necessarily imply "pistol" in the normal sense. I guess the smiley wasn't enough to get that point across, and I have to hit you upside the head with it. Oh well.

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the pistol part was more of a reference to the round it shot rather than it being an actual pistol

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mrbiggles wrote:

the pistol part was more of a reference to the round it shot rather than it being an actual pistol

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No.

The article says "stealing an AR-15, two MP-5 machine pistols, ammunition and flash-bang grenades." It doesn't even say what type of ammunition was stolen. We can assume the ammunition is for the referenced weapons, but that is just an assumption. In English, the word pistol means a gun, other than a revolver, which is designed to be fired with one hand. The MP in MP-5 stands for Maschinenpistole, a German term which, if you look at the weapons this name gets attached to, seems to translate to English as SMG. Machine pistol is not an English term. In English, the term for a gun that fires pistol ammunition but is not fired with one hand is generally carbine or SMG.

Now, this error could have been due to the reporter or the PR officer knowing what MP stands for without ever having seeing the weapon. Or it could be due to the PD purposely involving the word "pistol" in the report instead of admitting that they had lost an evil black machine gun. The point is that when the media talks about police weapons they don't use the same inflammatory terms they use when they talk about our weapons.

Are any of you saying that a news report concerning me having an MP-5 would ever use the word pistol?

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thorvaldr wrote:

Are any of you saying that a news report concerning me having an MP-5 would ever use the word pistol?

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No, It would be more like "radical right wing gunman in possession of full automatic machine gun".:what:

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Gordie wrote:

thorvaldr wrote:

Are any of you saying that a news report concerning me having an MP-5 would ever use the word pistol?

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No, It would be more like "radical right wing gunman in possession of full automatic machine gun".:what:

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That's all I'm saying. But the real point here, is that the police do not have the Godlike level of professionalism and responsibility necessary for society to allow them to have weapons that we can't legally have. They can't even keep track of their toys.