Times Herald (Port Huron, MI) May 15, 2003
Algonac buys military surplus
By Lori Paionk, Staff
ALGONAC - The pair of military surplus M16A1 rifles don't exactly blend in the gun room at the police department.
Buying cheaper military surplus weapons and adding rifles to police inventories are trends, a law-enforcement weapons expert said.
The fully automatic M16s are the first rifles for the department, which decided to expand it's arsenal for homeland security reasons. The M16 has been the U.S. military's standard rifle since the 1960s.
"We felt with being so close to the water and dealing everyday with smuggling and illegal aliens, people that are smuggling have strong weaponry, and we thought we should have something comparable," Sgt. Ed Silver said.
The surplus guns, which date from the Vietnam War, were $300 each. New rifles can cost as much as $1,500.
"The absolute trend is to remove shotguns from patrol cars in police department of all sizes and replace them ... with patrol rifles," said Cpl. Ed Sanow, an editor for the police trade magazines Law and Order and Tactical Response.
He said rifles have less recoil, are more accurate and are easier to handle for smaller officers.
"You can't take a handgun to a rifle fight," he said of criminals who are increasingly likely to use rifles and wear body armor.
The Memphis Police Department and the St. Clair County Sheriff Department Marine Division are training this year for the first time to use patrol rifles.
A CLOSER LOOK
M16A1 RIFLE
WHAT: A 5.56-mm, magazine fed, gas-operated, air-cooled, automatic hand-held, shoulder-fired weapon.
RANGE: Effective to 1,650 feet to 2,640 feet.
WEIGHT: 6.5 pounds, 7.5 loaded.
LENGTH: 39 inches
NOTE: The military adopted the M16A1 in 1962 and replaced it the improved A2 model in 1983.
Source: GlobalSecurity.org.
GRAPHIC: NEW PURCHASE: Sgt. Ed Silver poses with one of the Algonac Police Department's newly bought Vietnam War-era military surplus M16A1 rifles. By LORI PAIONK, Times Herald
Copyright © 2003, Times Herald (Port Huron, MI)
