Shotgun anyone? Anyone have a rifle??

Well. well. ... well. well. Yet another attempted armed robbery yesterday of the PNC bank in the Twilly shopping center. Which begs the question, if the police get a call for an armed bank robbery in progress, are they going to be prepared to battle it out with the suspects? No. Probably not. That's the sad truth. Do you think that it won't happen on the shore? It will. It's a matter of time. In the LA bank robbery police had previously lobbied for rifles but their requests were denied by police administration.

Most cops aren't issued shotguns or rifles. But yet these are weapons readily available for public use. Any idiot can walk into Gander Mountain and buy a shotgun or rifle the same day and go to a bank. Instantly the police are out gunned by an ordinary citizen.

Some local departments won't allow officers to carry their own shotguns, let alone departmental issued shotguns. The theory being this crazyness is that a shotgun bursts pellets out in all directions and therefore innocent people could be injured or killed by "spray fire". The truth is that police tactical shotgun load provides an extremely tight grouping at even 20 yards, let alone a tactical slug. Moreover, a rifle round packs a lot of punch with increased accuracy.

The second argument by departments is that ammo must be interchangeable. So that in a fire fight, another officer can pick up the ammo of a downed officer and utilize it in their weapon. Well 12 gauge shotgun loads virtually work in all 12 guide shotguns. If there is a money problem with providing these weapons departments can publish a policy saying that individual officers can provide their own shotguns or rifles but restrict the make and model.

The last question is why departments don't allow backup weapons in this area. A majority of police officers are killed in the line of duty by their own weapons. There have been multiple cases where a police officer, initially disarmed by a suspect, was able to shoot the suspect utilizing a backup weapon. Most departments allow off-duty carry of smaller weapons under the same caliber and make however don't allow these weapons to be carried as backup weapons while on duty. There is no reason for this. The weapon can't be used as a "throw down" piece because it's registered to the individual police officer since the weapon must be purchased by the officer. As long as there is a published policy advising the qualification process, make and model allowed, and secure carry method of the backup weapon, there is no reason why it should not be allowed.

Departments, do the right thing to protect your personnel and the citizens in this high gun and crime area. Don't wait until after a tragedy strikes. Deploy rifles and shotguns to patrol officers, now.