The column is confusing. The word, "automatic weapons," "assault weapons" and "long rifle" are used.
I don't know if automatic rifles are a good idea for their situation. Automatic weapons are good for two scenarios that I can recall offhand:
* For coordinated work in groups (fire teams, for example--requires many drills) to issue a volume of fire greater than the enemy in an encounter.
* To use automatic rifles to fire bursts to stop enemies while only pointing (instead of aiming), as one would use a shotgun. ...requires thousands of rounds of practice, works at close range only, and not everyone does well at it.
Maybe teamwork drills and semi-auto issue would be wiser. Or maybe that's what the Laredo Police Department is actually doing.
I'll bet they are referring to semi-auto long guns, probably AR-15s, not fully automatic weapons. The left with a lot of help from the media has succeeded in instilling in peoples minds the idea there are only two classes of long guns: semi-auto/auto/assault rifles (bad and should be banned to civilians), and bolt action/pump guns (also bad let the hunters keep them). This is a tactic that the left is so good at. Pro abortion becomes pro choice; nationalism becomes xenophobia, and on and on.
The only way to combat this is if enough people complain to the reporter and the media outlet every single time they do it.
I agree with you, automatic serves almost no purpose to a border patrol agent.