Maryland's new rifle

Surely no LEO would need a rifle this powerful since Maryland's strict anti-carry laws work so well...

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/top/2012/01/22-44/Pulling-out-the-big-guns.html?ne=1

A would like to see a list of incidents from the past five years where that gun would have been useful to the police. I doubt they NEED it.

On the other hand, they are a blast to shoot so I can see why they might WANT one

A couple range trips ago the Carter County SWAT team was there. We would have left immediately if it weren't for the fact that they had a Barret M82; I just wanted to see one in action.

I was too enamored with them letting me shoot it that I didn't even think to ask if it was the SWAT teams or just owned by one of them. I sincerely hope it's not the team's, as it is completely unneccesary, and would be irritated to know my tax dollars helped pay for it.

thebigsd said:

A would like to see a list of incidents from the past five years where that gun would have been useful to the police. I doubt they NEED it.

Click to expand...

I can't think of a single police event in U.S. history, ever, where a .50 BMG rifle would have been needed.

The guy that went on a rampage with the armored bulldozer comes to mind, but I'm not so sure a .50 could have stopped it.

The excuse the MD police are using to justify these .50 caliber rifles is as an anti-vehicle weapon. They say in an article that it could be used to stop a runaway truck full of explosives used by a terrorist.

I think the police in MD are watching to many action movies...

Also, I would like ANYONE in the LE community to give a single example of a "runaway truck full of explosives" used in a terrorist incident ANYWHERE in the industrialized world. As a general rule, terrorists who use truck bombs park them in front of their target, walk away to a safe distance, and then detonate them remotely. The IRA was famous for this.

And even if you believe the "official story" of Oklahoma City, that truck was parked, unoccupied, in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Building for 5 minutes before it was detonated. (of course, we have no idea how long the demolition charges INSIDE the building that caused the internal structural damage to the rear opposite corner of the building, or the charges in the front that blew structural elements across the street--TOWARD and OVER the truck--were in place...)

And although a .50BMG can cause catastrophic damage to the engine block of such a truck, a "runaway truck" would have enough momentum that even with a disabled engine, it would be able to travel hundreds of feet without power, if put into neutral by the driver.

I think we all know the REAL reason that MD LEOs think they need .50 caliber sniper rifles, and it's not for bearded men who live in caves in the desert.

It's for people like some of the folks on this forum, when the trains start rolling and the camps open up...

I like the "cobbled together" bit. Using the "old pistol grip from a .223 rifle" saved them about $20, too!

It mentions wanting the ability to deploy it to stop a renegade bomb-laden truck, and that it would not be deployed for more mundane matters. Hope that guy is driving a really slow truck and announcing his intentions long enough for someone to go get the big rifle since the .308's will be so useless until it arrives...

ON THE PLUS SIDE, I actually appreciate a taxpayer-funded agency that looked for a way to be just as effective at a much lower cost. It's all too often that these types of agencies buy the latest and greatest because their budgets are practically automatically increased to cover these "necessary" expenses. Many companies and suppliers market exclusively to these types of agencies because they can charge much higher prices with less justification.

KBCraig said:

I can't think of a single police event in U.S. history, ever, where a .50 BMG rifle would have been needed.

Click to expand...

I'll bet that Lon Horiuchi would beg to differ...

Just more militarization of your local police force.......

Dreamer said:

I'll bet that Lon Horiuchi would beg to differ...

Click to expand...

I don't know, that worthless piece of **** managed to kill an innocent woman holding her baby just fine. ******* **********.

I think the anti-cop fixation really gets the best of some. These weapons are an excellent tool for dealing with terrorists. As you see I'm taking a different stance, which is, why not!

I hope everyone understand the experts in the field of terrorism say it's just a matter of when. So when **** bird terrorists attack (we do know about radical Islam right, the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorists in the U.S., RIGHT?) I would hope that some of the tax dollars went to a means of combating these terrorists.


Many American citizens own .50's, and that too is excellent. We need all fronts able to defend against, and take down the cowardly terrorist. I bet if you asked, you’d find there are forum members owning Barett’s or McMillan’s. Will you say to them why the hell do you need that? Or will you support their right to defend, and bear arms?

jbone said:

Will you say to them why the hell do you need that? Or will you support their right to defend, and bear arms?

Click to expand...

The government has no "rights". Rights are the purview of individual human beings.

The government only has the ability to be armed because We the People ALLOW them to exercise a monopoly on power, as a trade-off for a perceived guarantee of protection (which they have no duty or legal obligation to provide.)

It is not only the right of every citizen to question every expansion of the government's ability to deal death and destruction upon individuals, it is a CIVIC DUTY.

Again, the question "why do they need this" has already been asked, and the answer they have given is ridiculous, nonsensical, tactically impossible, and operationally unfeasible. Either the answer is based on abject cluelessness or they are knowingly lying about the REAL reasons they want these firearms.

This stance is not "anti-cop". It is anti-tyranny and pro-liberty. To categorize questioning of expansion of governmental abilities to deal death and destruction as "anti-cop" is, on it's face, an anti-Freedom statement...

Dreamer said:

....

Click to expand...

You can make sure your department has enought tracer guns to go around, they are very effective,



when I was a kid I had one and killed everything sight with one of these. They should work just fine for you local department.

jbone said:

You can make sure your department has enought tracer guns to go around, they are very effective,

View attachment 7825

when I was a kid I had one and killed everything sight with one of these. They should work just fine for you local department.

Click to expand...

I had one of these when I was a kid too, but mine was gold and black, the "Star Trek" version, before the stupid laws that made manufacturers make all toy guns orange...




And to be honest, many of the LEAs where I live (MD, near Howard, Baltimore and Prince George's Counties) probably shouldn't be issued anything more powerful that these guns anyway, judging by the number of Federal Civil Rights lawsuits and wrongful death lawsuits they've had to pay out over the last 10 years, not to mention the corruption, extortion, theft, murder, smuggling, drug running, and generally criminal behavior in which they are routinely involved...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cases_of_police_brutality_in_the_United_States#Maryland

http://www.justice.gov/usao/md/Publ...thersIndictedInDrugTraffickingConspiracy.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/15/police-officers-arrested-pg-county-corruption-crac/

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2011/...rs-arrested-as-part-of-federal-investigation/

http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/...ice-officer-pleads-guilty-hit-and-run/2135996

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1316/is_6_33/ai_75434981/

http://www.fbi.gov/baltimore/press-releases/2010/ba081910.htm

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/20...224_1_fbi-wiretap-police-officers-repair-shop

jbone said:

I think the anti-cop fixation really gets the best of some. These weapons are an excellent tool for dealing with terrorists. As you see I'm taking a different stance, which is, why not!

I hope everyone understand the experts in the field of terrorism say it's just a matter of when. So when **** bird terrorists attack (we do know about radical Islam right, the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorists in the U.S., RIGHT?) I would hope that some of the tax dollars went to a means of combating these terrorists.


Many American citizens own .50's, and that too is excellent. We need all fronts able to defend against, and take down the cowardly terrorist. I bet if you asked, you’d find there are forum members owning Barett’s or McMillan’s. Will you say to them why the hell do you need that? Or will you support their right to defend, and bear arms?

Click to expand...

I can see where you're coming from.
However, we are talking about Maryland here.
I remember I have been hassled more than once by Maryland Police just when I mentioned that I was a gun owner and even had a western district AACO policeman say "why, so you can shoot a whole bunch of people" when he saw my Colorado Concealed carry permit.

I just dont like the police thinking they are more entitled than us regular folks.

I love the reference to not being able to shoot it yet.

If they were so good at being able to peice it together economically, why do they not know that .50BMG rounds start around $3.00 each, not $8.00 each? I am sure you CAN find the $8.00 rounds but the "good stuff" is never just for practice.

The Wolfhound said:

If they were so good at being able to peice it together economically, why do they not know that .50BMG rounds start around $3.00 each, not $8.00 each? I am sure you CAN find the $8.00 rounds but the "good stuff" is never just for practice.

Click to expand...

Same reason why MD public schools and many community colleges throw out perfectly good text books and other teaching supplies every year.

They have to justify their budget increase for each year.

When I worked at AACC, they would throw out tons of brand new never used books. If they didnt they wouldn't get a budget increase the following year.

Talk about government waste!

jbone said:

I think the anti-cop fixation really gets the best of some. These weapons are an excellent tool for dealing with terrorists. As you see I'm taking a different stance, which is, why not!

Click to expand...

The main reason AA Co. Police give for "needing" these rifles is for terrorist attacks on NSA, Ft. Meade, and BWI. Like those facilities can't defend themselves more quickly than calling 911 for AACO PD? Right.

The NSA HQ is one of the most heavily defended pieces of property in North America. It is loaded with electronic countermeasures ranging from radar jamming and "ballistic lasers" to focused energy weapons that use microwaves and EMP pulses to disable anything that flies, floats or rolls. Not to mention the batteries of anti-aircraft guns and small guided missiles. NSA is more heavily armed and armored than the freaking Pentagon...

And Ft.Meade isn't far behind on the "power curve".

For a small, local-yokel police force that has an average 911 response time exceeding 20 minutes to presume they would have even a showballs chance of having any sort of meaningful impact on defending Ft.Meade or NSA is the height of hubris, bordering on insanity. These guys are a little too full of themselves, and are overestimating their departments importance in such a situation by several orders of magnitude...

BWI, on the other hand, IS a pretty "soft target". But then again, anyone who's ever flown in or out of BWI would probably say that a terrorist strike that destroyed BWI would probably result in an overall improvement to air service in the region...

Dreamer said:

The main reason AA Co. Police give for "needing" these rifles is for terrorist attacks on NSA, Ft. Meade, and BWI. Like those facilities can't defend themselves more quickly than calling 911 for AACO PD? Right.

The NSA HQ is one of the most heavily defended pieces of property in North America. It is loaded with electronic countermeasures ranging from radar jamming and "ballistic lasers" to focused energy weapons that use microwaves and EMP pulses to disable anything that flies, floats or rolls. Not to mention the batteries of anti-aircraft guns and small guided missiles. NSA is more heavily armed and armored than the freaking Pentagon...

Click to expand...

Dont give the AACO PD any ideas!
They will be requesting SAM's and AT4's next....

Now, I am not condoning this, but just think about this:

Which one of you would refuse a Barrett if someone (I'm sure the feds in this case) were to offer you one for free, or at a greatly reduced price, and then agree to supply the ammo for free or at a discount?????

All the full auto etc that the LE agencies have these days are either free or mostly paid for by federal funds. Thank O'b for his generosity with your money.