August 26, 2005
OVERKILL
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Evidence of domestic police departments' desire to become increasingly
militarized cropped up this morning on the front page of The New
York Sun. The paper
reports [subscription required] that the NYPD has purchased an
undisclosed number of Barrett M82A1 .50 caliber rifles. With a weight
of nearly 35 lbs and an overall length three inches shy of six feet,
this is a big weapon. Also, there probably are few light arms in
existence less appropriate for use in an urban setting such as NYC.
The Barrett .50 caliber is an anti-materiel weapon, meaning that it is
not a sniper rifle for shooting people, but one for disabling vehicles
or penetrating buildings. It can be effectively used on targets more
than a mile away. That is why it is an effective weapon in wide-open
terrain such as Iraq and in the first Gulf War. The Barrett .50
caliber would be of little use in an urban environment though, where
it's tremendous power would be more of a liability than an asset. The
ability to punch through walls and vehicles at a distance of a mile is
going to raise significant concerns in an area densely populated by
both people and buildings.
Even more bizarre, the article repeats a statement in a CBS2 news
report that the NYPD would be mounting the rifles on three of its Bell
412 helicopters. Effective marksmanship at ranges that the Barrett .50
caliber is capable of is almost entirely contingent on having a
perfectly stable shooting platform, or the exact opposite of a
helicopter. Plus, they're mounting a 6-foot-long rifle in a
helicopter? Isn't that going to be a tad unwieldy? This entire
venture strikes me as excessively asinine, even for a government
agency.
Posted by Lexiphane at August 26, 2005 9:24 AM
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