Nashville Police Allowed To Carry AR-15s

Coolhandluke @ 1/20/2013 4:10 PM

But they are Assault weapons!

Bernie @ 1/21/2013 7:00 PM

They are "counter-assault weapons"!

Morning Eagle @ 1/21/2013 10:26 PM

A police administration with common sense! How refreshing.

FireCop @ 1/22/2013 4:24 AM

They are only assault weapons if they are used in an assault. If the bad guys have automatic and semi automatic high powered weapons, what do we expect the good guys to have? Remember the Hollywood, California bank robbers and shoot out? Probably not; how quickly and conveniently we forget. This should not even be an issue for discussion. Stay safe.

Dgcochief @ 1/22/2013 5:27 AM

The department admits the officers need them to do their job and expects them to purchase them on their own. $2500 is a lot to ask a young officer to come up with when he or she is married with a family. The department should place one in every patrol unit, like a shot gun. We obtained military surplus M-16 at a very reasonable price, less than new shot guns. Not fancy but very functional.

Bowman @ 1/22/2013 5:34 AM

I Remember the Hollywood, California bank robbers and shoot out! what I do remember as well is that police officers did not have the fire power and went to a local gun store and used assault weapons from that store, if there is a ban that would not be an option. I agree they are only assault weapons in the hands of criminals not the good guys, police and citizens alike!!

Frank @ 1/22/2013 5:39 AM

Get your terms correct. There is no such thing as an 'Assault Weapon", That is a political term. There are only Assault Rifles and these are used by our military and can be fully automatic and are not available to the public.

AJ @ 1/22/2013 6:15 AM

It's 2013 and a major metropolitan police department is just no getting to okay to field rifles?!?!? There needs to be some changes in leadership there because they are waaaaaay behind the curve. They should have had rifles immediately after the North Hollywood Bank Shootout, if they didn't get them after the Texas bell tower which American LE mainly ignored the lessons from.

I'm surprised how few agencies issue and train officers on personal IFAK's. We can still be polite and professional but we need to accept the state or the world and train and equip to be useful in it.

Bob @ VA @ 1/22/2013 7:04 AM

By definition, assault rifles are select-fire weapons, which AR-15s are not. AR-15s are merely modern sporting rifles. If the current national administration and their party get their way, officers won't have private AR-15s or normal capacity magazines to use.

Tom Ret @ 1/22/2013 7:52 AM

AJ is correct-my dept. had ar15s in the cars almost 20 years ago! For a lot of departments, the head shed just don't think it looks good to the public for the police to be heavily armed irrespective of it possibly saving their lives or the public. Back in the day, I remember one chief who didn't like speed loaders because they didn't look good to him.

Doug M. @ 1/22/2013 3:54 PM

Good lord. As others have notied, this is a step that is 20+ years overdue. Time for some disciplinary action on senior staff personnel for dereliction, incompetence, etc. I was carrying a personally owned 30-30 in the early 90s. Rifles are old news; to have an agency just allowing this now is simply appalling.

James Cumming @ 1/23/2013 6:19 PM

Patrol rifles is patrol cars wow welcome to the 20th century Nashville. Too bad they have to pay for their own maybe some overpaid country western singers could donate some?