Reply #180: The North Hollywood Bank Robbery was an anomoly

[RamboLiberal]

1 incident that has not been repeated. Wikipedia explains it well.

On the morning of Feb. 28, 1997, after months of preparation, including extensive reconnoitering of their intended target—the Bank of America branch on Laurel Canyon Boulevard—Phillips and Matasareanu loaded five rifles and approximately 3,300 rounds of ammunition in box and drum magazines into the trunk of their vehicle: two modified Chinese-built Norinco Type 56 Sporters and one modified Norinco Type 56 S-1, a semi automatic HK91 and a modified Bushmaster XM15 E2S. Phillips carried one 9mm Beretta Model 92F. They wore their full-suit body armor, as well as metal trauma plates to protect vital organs, and they took the barbiturate phenobarbital to calm their nerves.

LAPD at the time didn't equip their street officers with a rifle in the car. They should have, but instead they depended on SWAT who took awhile to get to this incident. And look at the date. This incident was after the AWB was enacted. Sure didn't stop these 2 robbers. LAPD officers at the scene were going to gun stores to get rifles to fight back.

Have you seen an incident like this since?

Columbine - no except for the school officer on the scene the police were not outgunned. And even there the weapons Harris and Klebold were carrying were not that great. The rifle was a pistol caliber and the pump action shotgun soemthing that could be used for hunting. And the only reason I give Harris a slight edge against the school officer when they exchanged fire from a distance is the better stability of the carbine vs. a pistol. But no caliber edge.

During the shootings, Harris carried a 12 gauge Savage-Springfield 67H pump-action shotgun (serial no. A232432) and a Hi-Point 995 Carbine 9 mm semi-automatic rifle with thirteen 10-round magazines, fired 96 times. Harris's other weapon, the shotgun, was fired a total of 25 times. Harris committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with his shotgun.

Klebold carried a 9 mm Intratec TEC-9 semi-automatic handgun manufactured by Navegar, Inc. with one 52-, one 32-, and one 28-round magazine. He also carried a 12 gauge Stevens 311D double barreled sawed-off shotgun (serial no. A077513). Klebold's primary weapon was the TEC-9 handgun, which was fired a total of 55 times. Klebold would later commit suicide via a shot to the left temple with the TEC-9.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre

The SWAT officers at Columbine had Harris and Klebold outgunned. But by the time SWAT went in to the school the killers had already committed suicide. Again this terrible crime happened after the AWB. Did nothing to stop it. Look at the high cap mags - thought they were banned? Ah, but exising mags were grandfathered in and there were thousands if not hundred of thousands of them already available. Only thing the AWB did is make them more expensive and valuable.

Anytime police roll up on a criminal with a rifle or shotgun they can be outgunned if they don't get to their shotgun or if they are not carrying a rifle in the patrol car. Cops get killed by criminals with hunting rifles.

Police agencies should train and equip their officers with an AR-15 and many are. Just like they found they had to switch from revolvers to higher capacity semi-autos. Or from 9mm to .40 or .45 calibers.

IMHO the AWB was a knee jerk to a couple of high profile crimes and a stupid ineffective law that did little to stop crime. It soured a generation of gun owners on voting Democratic and will continue to hurt Democrats for at least another 10-20 years or better.