Media Mythbusters comments on AP’s Bogus Ammo Shortage Story:

Reality, however, shows that the assumptions made and biases held by the Associated Press reporters may have led the story to having been built on an entirely faulty premise.

To understand the ammunition shortage being experienced by some police agencies today, we shouldn’t look at September 11, 2001, but instead, begin with February 28, 1997.

It was on that day in North Hollywood, California that Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu, two-heavily armed and armored bank robbers, engaged in a 44-minute shootout with an out-gunned Los Angeles Police Department. The two suspects fired more than 1,300 rounds of ammunition, and each was shot multiple times with police handguns. the 9mm police pistol bullets bounced off their homemade body armor. Phillips eventually died after being shot 11 times; Matasareanu died after being hit 29 times.

In the aftermath of the shootout, the LAPD, followed by police departments large and small nationwide, began to feel that rank-and-file patrol officers should be armed with semi-automatic or fully-automatic assault rifles or submachine guns in addition to their traditional sidearms, anticipating an up-tick of heavily armed and armored subjects. The trend has failed to materialize more than a decade later.

As with most trends in law enforcement, the trend towards the militarization of police patrol officers to a level once reserved for SWAT/ERT teams was slow, though one that gathered momentum rapidly after September 11, 2001.

Today, it is this increased and on-going militarization of police forces and the associated training requirements that have caused the ammunition shortages experienced by some police departments, and the lack of ammunition is not related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in any meaningful way.

The Associated Press report is not supported beyond anecdotal evidence by real, objective facts.

Lots more details at the link.

In a nutshell, the ammo shortage is not because of international conflicts.  It is because of the increased militarization of domestic police forces.

San Antonio:

Police said Wednesday that dozens of law enforcement uniforms and thousands of dollars in police equipment were stolen from inside a trailer.

Officers said someone broke the pad lock on the trailer and took 40 sets of police uniforms and a SWAT shield in the 15000 block of Knoll Circle.

The thefts took place sometime between Tuesday and Wednesday, police said.

The uniforms were made by Nardis, a police supply company.

Well, golly gee, we have the name of the uniform manufacturer.  Big flippin' deal.  What I'd like to know is why the Only Ones (special SWAT Only Ones, at that) left a trailer full of gear parked overnight in a tiny residential cul-de-sac way out in the relative boonies of northeastern Bexar County.

"Police equipment," eh?

Via Strange in San Antonio.

You'll have to scroll down for it.  It happened in Wilmington:

At 10:30 p.m., officers were called to the 700 block of E. Sixth St., where they discovered a fight had broken out and 18-year-old Brian Miles -- an alleged participant in the fight -- was seen walking away. Police stopped him and found he had a loaded .380-caliber Magnum handgun, [Master Sgt. Mark] Lemon said.

A 380 Magnum! Who'd a thunk it?  Is it a case of a journalist throwing in "magnum" to make it sound scarier, or a case of a Master Sergeant who didn't know what he was talking about?  Hard to tell.

Armed police raid home after mistaking Lara Croft dummy for gunman:

When police spotted a gun-wielding suspect lurking in the shadows of a suburban front room, their response was swift.

Armed officers burst into the house, shouted at the owner to lie on the floor, and ordered him to surrender his weapon.

But efficiency turned to embarrassment when the "gunman" turned out to be a life-sized model of the video game character Lara Croft, complete with trademark outsized pistols.

I thought she was known for her trademark outsized something else.  My mistake.

Via The War On Guns.

Tinton Falls, NJ:

Former Asbury Park Police Director Louis Jordan has his gun back, law officials said today.

Jordan, a resident of Tinton Falls, had reported his gun missing on March 23. He said he last knew he had it on the night of March 17, but first realized it was missing on March 20.

Someone found it and called the authorities.  No consequences, apparently.

Someone let me know what would happen to an average shmuck in New Jersey if he misplaced a gun like this.

Oh, and he has a permit.  How easy is it to get a permit in NJ?  Not very, I think.

Not photoshopped.  Story here.  Via The Agitator.

UPDATE:  Sometimes my snark just doesn't come out right.  See comments.

Well, nothing happens if you're one of the Only Ones.

St. Paul Pioneer Press:

A Ramsey County jury believed part of his account, acquitting Segulia on Tuesday of domestic assault but finding him guilty of obstructing legal process and possessing a gun while intoxicated.

[...]

The officers handcuffed and eventually arrested Segulia, removing his loaded service weapon. Segulia had a blood-alcohol content of 0.21 percent at the time of his arrest, according to police.

[...]

Bergmann said Segulia remains on the Minneapolis police force.

"He's a great cop," Bergmann said. "That's where he should be."

Swell.

Don't miss the new, first ever edition of the Carnival of "The Only Ones" at The War On Guns.

What is this carnival?  Here are the words of its founder:

The purpose of this feature has never been to bash cops. The only reason I do this is to amass a credible body of evidence to present when those who would deny our right to keep and bear arms use the argument that only the police are professional and trained enough to do so safely and responsibly. And it's also used to illustrate when those of official status, rank or privilege, both in law enforcement and in some other government position, get special breaks not available to we commoners, particularly when they're involved in gun-related incidents.

The phrase "The Only Ones" was inspired by (former) DEA agent Lee Paige, who uttered the famous words "I'm the only one in this room professional enough to use this gun" the instant before shooting himself with his Glock.

The video of this momentous event is available in various places, just search for his name if you want to see it.

Although I have not posted anything on this topic recently, and therefore didn't submit anything to the carnival, I have also covered this topic.  Search this blog for "Frank Melton" or "Juan Hinojosa" to see what I mean, or check the category "The Only Ones" in the sidebar.

SWAT officers exonerated in fatal shooting of suspected drug dealer:

Attorney Michael Dutko, who represented Detectives Sean Visners and Andre Bruna, the SWAT officers who shot Diotaiuto, said the officers were not responsible.

"No one will ever know, maybe, why he [Diotaiuto] chose to pull a gun under those circumstances," he said.

Since he was suspected, he was automatically guilty.  That's the way the war on civilians drugs works.

No one will ever know, eh?  It's dark.  A group of thugs force their way into your house.  They give no verbal warning or identification, and it's too dark to see who they are.  I'd start shooting too.

This was murder.  Somebody is going to burn in hell for it.

Technorati Tags: Anthony Diotaiuto, police state, war on drugs