- - High-Powered Guns Choice Of Weapon For Violent Criminals, Experts Say
MIAMI -- The spray of bullets that killed one Miami-Dade County police officer and hurt three others came from something increasingly common on the city's streets. Miami's Mayor Manny Diaz is speaking out against the weapons and is asking Congress to renew a ban on assault weapons.
"Yesterday's events surrounding the death of a law enforcement officer and the injury of three others in South Florida, once again brings to our attention the dangerous rise of assault rifles in our streets," said Diaz in a statement. "These high powered weapons designed for war have no business in our streets and certainly no business in the hands of criminals who use them against our police and citizenry." High-powered assault weapons like the one believed to have been used in Thursday's attack are becoming the guns of choice for gang members and other violent criminals.
In 2005, the Miami-Dade Police Department reported two homicides involving an assault rifle; by last year there were 10. The department says 15 of its 79 homicides last year involved assault weapons, up from the year before. This year, already 12 of the 60 homicides have involved the high-powered guns.
"I have asked my fellow mayors who are gathered in Trenton, New Jersey, for a meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors leadership, to join me in once again calling on our Congressional leaders to renew the ban on assault weapons. Since the expiration of the ban, we have seen an upward spike in the number of assault weapons in our streets -- weapons that have been confiscated by our police and used to commit numerous crimes as the one used in yesterday's senseless murder."
Carlos Baixauli is a Miami-based special agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He said the numbers reflect growing availability of the weapons and their elevation to a status symbol among gang members. He adds that the guns are readily available on streets or can be ordered by mail less than $200. "While we support the Constitutional rights of all Americans to own legally obtained weapons, we cannot risk that these highly deadly assault weapons fall into the hands of criminals. The choice is clear: we can rid our cities and streets of these assault weapons, thus making our streets safer, or we can continue to lament the loss of innocent lives as a result of their proliferation," said Diaz.
It's not the guns it's the Moose Limbs!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
An AK-47 assault rifle?
Assuming the author isn't a liar, where did a teenager get a Class III selective-fire weapon?
Not a Muslim Terrorist. Just your average, everyday teenager.
Gosh, you've got to love the Communist MSM and their lackies.
Can somebody please give me a newspaper so I can spew lies with impunity, too? I'm jealous.
If guns were taken from law abiding citizens, the criminals will not turn in their weapons.
I think that is most frightening.