Police Forces Upgrading Their Firepower

More Beat Officers Across The Country Being Armed With Semi-Automatic Weapons

(CBS)  When Broward Sheriff deputy Chris Caldwell patrols the streets of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he's armed with more than just the standard handgun.

His other weapon, an AR-15 - the civilian version of rifle carried by soldiers in Iraq.

“You have to up the ante a little bit; you don’t want to go to a gunfight with a knife,” Caldwell told CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

Especially when the gun on the other end of the fight is an AK-47, favored weapon of terrorists and, these days, the common criminal - used to rob grocery stores and donut shops. Last month, one was used to shoot four Miami-Dade police officers during a traffic stop, killing one.

The Broward sheriff’s office confiscated 25 of these weapons in a week’s time. Two are versions of the AK-47. They’re cheap, they’re easy to get and they’re powerful enough to pierce body armor.

Because of that, police are finding they have to upgrade their own arsenals. The guns usually seen in a SWAT officer's hand are now being given to beat officers in more than 20 departments around the country.

Miami's police chief is the latest to follow suit.

“I have an obligation to my police officers to make sure that they have an even chance,” said Miami police chief John Timoney.

Yet in many departments there isn't enough money to arm the entire force. Many beat cops have to buy their own rifle at a cost of more than $1,000, while assault rifles are being sold for as little as $200 on the street.

Twenty five-year-old Grady owns both an AK-47 and an Uzi.

It can fire 600 rounds at the flick of a finger. In his neighborhood, Grady says it's the only defense.

“I need something that, when I pull the trigger, is going to spray,” Grady said.

And it is set to automatic.

Caldwell knows a spray of bullets could be around the next corner. It's his assault rifle that gives him confidence he'll have a shot at survival.

[fremen71]

I''m still trying to decide if this story was another example of incompetance blended with ignorance or pure and outright deception.

At least one of the two "versions of the AK-47" was an SKS. Completely different design than the AK. The only thing they have in common is caliber.

The UZI''s were a nice touch. Show UZI submachine guns being fired _full auto_. Now switch to the street thug with an UZI semi auto carbine that "can fire 600 rounds at the flick of a finger" and ask him if it''s "set to automatic."

Folks, "semi automatic" IS NOT "full automatic". There is a difference, and you know it. You chose to be deliberately misleading (you lied) by showing only clips of SMG''s firing full auto then cutting to the semi carbine.

And "600 rounds at the flick of a finger"? Yes, UZI machine guns have a _theoretical_ rate of fire of around 600 rounds _per minute_. This means that if you had a magazine that held 600 rounds, and you held the trigger back for one minute, you would fire all 600 some odd rounds barring any jams. Uzi mags hold 30 rounds (OK, some hold 50, but they''re junk and jam), so where does the "flick of a finger" garbage come from?

And as long as the idiot is "spraying" and not _aiming_, he''s mostly just making noise.

[feebmaster]

Ahh the gun control movement. 21 years of ignorance and still going strong.

How many millions of dollars wasted on assault weapons and various attempts to define then ban them? How many man hours?

Here''s to hoping they don''t figure things out and go back to their roots. They might actually accomplish banning something.

[nobra81]

This is one of the most onesided antigun stories I''ve ever seen. To start off with all police departments should arm themselves with the most modern equiptment available. The ar-15 is not fully automatic, it is semi. So although it may look like it is a machinegun it is not. It is just a .223 caliber rifle. The uzi you showed firing fully auto by the police officer is a machinegun. The police dept. can have these. The gentlemen who said their uzi was fully automatic are either lying, have a registered machinegun (highly resticted weapon costing thousands of dollars), or have a illegal weapon that should put them in jail. I''m sure atf bureau will want to know some info on them. It is illegal to possess a unregistered machinegun. No machinegun have been registered in the US since 1986. If the gentlemen have a semi-auto uzi,that is perfectly legal. It will not shoot 600 rounds a minute. One pull of the trigger, one shot. But your story makes it seem that everyone is walking around with machineguns. I don''t think so. If all the gun laws were enforced crime would be way down.

[chrismatheni]

here we go again. the leftist communist broadcasting service is deliberatly trying to mislead the american public. the clip on the evening news pertaining to assault weapons was the biggest bunch of lies i have ever heard. why would you do this? the weapons you showed were full automatic machineguns, which have been tightly regulated by the federal government since 1934. the so called "assault weapons" that you were referring to are semi automatic only which means that they fire one time each time the trigger is pulled. this is the same as many hunting rifles. and for the gangbanger you interviewed to say that his weapon fired six hundred rounds a minute would mean that he had a full automatic machinegun. if this is the case why did you not report him to the batf ?. by him having an unregistered machine he was commiting a felony. this is what has become expected of the liberal left, to spread lies to further your own agenda. just another dan rather type package of lies.

[rkba1]

Oh my god, what a load of garbage. Can someone please help CBS with actual facts?

[carter9899]

Another typical CBS anti-gun hit piece. Trying to convince the public that fully automatic firearms are legal is old news for CBS. The individual you interviewed does not have his semi-automatic firearm set to "auto", there is no "auto" setting on his gun, it fires once for every pull of the trigger, not full auto as shown in the video. I would ask CBS to stop airing their propaganda to the masses, but its useless.

[carter9899]

Another typical CBS anti-gun hit piece. Trying to convince the public that fully automatic firearms are legal is old news for CBS. The individual you interviewed does not have his semi-automatic firearm set to "auto", there is no "auto" setting on his gun, it fires once for every pull of the trigger, not full auto as shown in the video. I would ask CBS to stop airing their propaganda to the masses, but its useless.

[clevsteamer6]

Automatic, semi-automatic! Does it really matter how bad the CBS evening news gets it wrong. One thing that is right is that police officers are being gunned down at an alarming rate. My hat goes off to Chief Timoney for being proactive and getting his men and women the fire power they need and deserve to do their job effectively. I work in a mid-sized central Kansas police department and am frustrated that our chief of police sits back and worries that government administrators will think that our city is getting more violent if the police carry assault weapons. The sad thing is that it is not if but when our police officers will have to take action against a heavily armed suspect and not be able to stop the threat which could possibly result in an officer losing his life because he was not provided affordable weapons to do his job. These types of weapons are out there and police are definitely out gunned.

[mattcbsmatt]

The fastest way to cut crime in the U.S. is to build a border fence with Mexico
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, Calif.
When we built that border fence with Mexico, the crime rate in the city of San Diego dropped by 50 percent.

[blofeld42]

Sheesh, the same misinformation over and over again. The homey interviewed on camera with his Uzi falls into one of three categories: he paid five figures for his Uzi and underwent an extensive background check; he''s a felon who just admitted to a crime on camera that will get him a decade in the big house; or he lied to the foolish reporter and he''s got a semiautomatic.

Actually, there''s a more likely possiblity: the reporter knew it was a semi-auto, and didn''t care. This is an old, old tactic on the part of the news media: they talk about semi-automatic weapons, then show machineguns firing on screen. It''s dishonest, but it serves their agenda. They''ll be corrected on this countless times, and they''ll continue to make the same "mistake" over and over again. Certainly that''s the way it''s always worked in the past.

[jpr9954]

So how much did Sarah Brady and Carolyn McCarthy have to pay you to do this hit job? And it wasn''t even a good hit given the number of inaccuracies in the piece. I knew when I saw the ads for this that it was going to be a hit piece ... and it was.

[belmont31r]

Can the news media get anything right pertaining to guns? Do you even research the topic, or is it just another one of your sensationalist hit peices that you know most viewers wont know either way if you are telling the truth or just making "facts" up, again. Take the time to know the laws. In your history of guns timeline you list the 1994 AWB as actually banning assault rifles. IT DID NOT. It banned specific features of traditional assualt rifles like a bayonet lug (when was the last time someone got bayonetted?), magazine capacity, and the ever evil flash suppresor. You could still buy an AK47 or AR15; manufacturers simply kept the above off the rifles and kept selling them. Get your facts straight.

There is no such thing as cop killer bullets. Most LEO''s wear soft armor which protects primarily against handgun caliber rounds. Hard trauma plates protect from rifle caliber rounds. There is not a soft armor vest out there that will stop even common hunting rounds from compromising the vests commonly worn by LEO''s. Its another MSM made up factoid you people like to spout off.

[burningcort]

I Wish that the news really was impartial. When you report fiction as fact you really are not helping your viewing public. You are spreading mis-information and fear.

[thresher_593]

Your corporation has a moral obligation to present fair, accurate news. This article was neither. During the segment which showed the large group of weapons, the reporter identified two SKS carbines as "variations of the AK47". This is blatantly inccurate as they are totally and completely different. Maybe no one at CBS noticed but included in that group of weapons was a MUZZLE LOADER ! Do you do any research before airing these articles or are you so anti-gun that you don''t care about truth?
The segment showing the young black man with the Uzi was equally inaccurate. The reporter asked "Is it on auto?" and he replied "Yes". That model is a semi-automatic, not full auto. Was the guy a paid actor? And if I''m wrong, if that weapon has somehow been modified to full auto capability, why did that reporter not immediately call BATFE and report this illegal weapon? You seem to be perfectly willing to deny legal gun owners access to legal weapons. Why aren''t you willing to help get the illegal guns off the streets and punish the criminals?

[bryanstrothe]

Once again, gun owners, military veterans, police, and anyone else who has the slightest bit of knowledge about firearms must wonder: is this news organization lying or simply incompetent?

[michellem99-2009]

I am For grtting the combet style guns off the streets. I know about the right to bear arms that is in the constution. Them guns the article talks about are people killing guns. I for a man putting food on his table to feed his famiy. Every nite there is a gun stooting to kill,hurt others. It is worse today. You can''t handle it, the gun right them don''t have it. A person gets so hot headed and if she/he is armed then that will gun will go off as that shooter will do it. As a legally blind person I was raised in gun free homes. Here in America. Not everyene should have access to gun ownership.

[hello72]

Katie, you should be ashamed of yourself. your piece was nothing more than shill for the Brady campaign. That report had no facts, no truth, no balance, no substance. I could accept a reasoned argument, or even a biased presentation. This, however, was nothing more than a "mis-infomercial" for the gun-control lobby.

You have officially become... pathetic.

[mcapek]

News people are either incompetent and don''t know what they are talking about (likely) or have an anti-gun agenda (also likely). Shame on you CBS!!!

[mcapek]

A hunting rifle with a scope is many times more powerful than a 9 mm semiautomatic UZI (it will not wound, a single bullet will bring down huge elk), acurate for several hundred yards, and, in a semiautomatic version such as Browning BAR just as fast in spraying bullets as a semiautomatic UZI. But millions of American hunters will really HATE you clowns at CBS, if you try to label their rifles as "assault rifles" or "sniper rifles", because they are neither. And they will severely punish those in Congress who would go along with such a nonsense, just like during Clinton era. So don''t even think about trying it, you losers at CBS.

[hello72]

Just wanted to add, for the benefit of your commercial sponsors, that I''m finished with CBS.

This was just too much.

[mcapek]

And what is this business of giving cops automatic weapons? Are you crazy??? Most cops are marginal with firearms, maybe qualify with a handgun and shotgun, and that''s about it. Most cops are not experts on firearms and not expert shooters. And now you want them to spray bullets in your neighborhood during some encounter with a bad guy? High velocity rounds will go through buildings and kill innocent bystanders. High velocity and automatic weapons belong ONLY in hands of trained SWAT response teams, who constantly train with them. Full auto firearms are only useful in assault on a barricaded suspect,
they should not be used as replacement for bad marksmanship and poor training in a shootout on the street. I hope those police chiefs and cities realize what kind of liability they have taken upon themselves. Militarization of US police is also a very questionable decision in a democratic society. One incident in Florida, and every police department clamors to arm with machineguns. Next they will want to have automatic granade launches, tanks, armored helicopters, multiple rocket launch systems (to level the hostile neighborhoods - sure, it would make their jobs easier).

[anti-lies]

First and foremost I have a few questions regarding the unnamed male near the end of the segment holding the SEMI-AUTOMATIC CLONE of an Uzi.

Did they ask him if it is legal for him to own firearms? - No, those pesky little things called "facts" just get in the way of a story

Did they ask him if he legally purchased said firearm? - No, again, facts get in the way of a juicy and "scary" story

[anti-lies]

CBS, you need to get your facts straight before you run a story, and you need to present both sides to the story. Law abiding citizens use the very rifles that police forces are just now starting to stock up on for various lawful activities. I shoot nearly once a week at the NRA range in Fairfax, Virginia as a form of stress relief, hand eye coordination, and as a way to practice for the weekends, which I spend shooting paper targets with my AR15, semi-auto WASR-10, and Ruger 10/22 in competition against fellow law abiding gun enthusiasts. My lawful use of semi-automatic firearms does not hurt the public in any way and for every 1 person who improperly and illegally uses a firearm to harm another person, there are nearly 40 MILLION others who do not and have to pay the consequences as anti-gun people try to pass new and more ineffective gun-control laws. If the criminal court system fails to do its job of punishing offenders and instead rushes them through and back out onto the streets, then we have no one to blame except each and every law abiding citizen, gun owners and non-gun owners, who do not cry out in anger at the lack of punishment and accountability for these criminals who are free to break the law again.

[yzpilot426]

First of all, why would you air such a misleading piece of journalism. You as a network are supposed to be Fair and Balanced, are you not?

Well in the intrest of fairness and balance, I would like to clear a few things up for anyone who watched this.

1) why are full auto weapons taped being shot, when the majority of weapons your piece targets are Semi-Auto?

2) AK-47''s do not really Sell for $200 apiece, they Sell for over $400.

3) The two "AK-47" rifles that were shown, were in reality SKS rifles, which have never been automatics.

4) An Uzi is not capable of firing 600 rounds per minute.

5) it is proven that most crimes are committed with handguns, why were there no statistics shown as to how many of these "evil guns" were actually involved in crimes?

6) The "Gang Members" in the last scene; if that weapon was full auto, which is doubtful, was he a licensed owner? did he go through the extensive process to actually posess a Class III firearm? if not, why was this not reported?

I expected more from your network and I''m sure the many millions of my fellow gun owners did too. I am dissapointed. I would hope that you take the time to read these comments, but sadly I think that you may not care what your viewers opinions are...please prove me wrong.

[ericg83]

What a steaming pile of journalistic ***.

Guns are not the problem, criminals are the problem. Most criminals use and favor small concealable handguns. No criminals respect current or future legislation.

Thank you for juxtaposing a story about a guy with a semi-auto Uzi with footage from a full-auto firearm. Uzi mags are 20 to 30 rounds. Tell me please how to get 600 rounds with a flick of the finger.

Further, many police departments require thier officers to purchase their own weapons. Turns out that they don''t lose them as often. And, most policemen own other firearms. AR-15s are a popular recreational candidate. However, if they are strapped for cash, why don''t they just buy some of your $200 AK-47s?

After all, guns are tools. And apparently, so is the media.

[bigr_hammer]

That "Story" was the WORST excuse for "journalism" ever seen on TV. The lies Lies LIES!!!

(A) Full Automatic (Machine Guns) are not widely found on the Streets for $200. Owners must undergo a full FBI background check over several months & a sign off by authorities.

(B) SEMI automatic guns are NOT Machineguns. But your camera splices sure tried to confuse "Ma & Pa" watching on the TV about that. a SEMI auto firearm only fires ONCE for a pull of the trigger, not a "SPRAY" bullets as a MACHINE GUN would.

(C) The "Interview" with "Brady" the Gangsta thug who supposedly owns a Illegal Full Auto Uzi was BOGUS. You got played sucka! The gun he is holding is a SEMI auto copy that only shoots one bullet on the pull of the trigger. (Note it has a 16" barrel is required of the semiauto version built to the specs. & approved by the B.A.T.F.E. (Full Auto Uzis have only a 8" or 10" bbl without a Shroud) If "Brady" (sure he isn''t one of Jim & Sarahs kids?) is really holding an illegal machine gun, then your reporter has knowledge of a Federal Felony and since "Brady" is plastered on TV, I look forward to the followup story of his arrest for Felony Possession of a Machine Gun... Oops that won''t happen will it??

CBS News - You just never learn. "Operation Tailwind", then the Bush ANG scandal - (bye bye Dan!), now your trying & lieing to the public to push Gun Control of the "Evil Assault Weapons". CBS news, You just laid it on way too thick in trying your tricks.
BigR_Hammer

[dez45-2009]

I had stopped watching national news for some time as it was just the "same old same old" regurgitated propaganda. Apparently I am not the only one to have abandoned the 6:30 news given the ratings for these amazingly similar TV skits across three different channels. However, I thought I would check out Katie''s latest hair style and got to see this "production" on full auto assault rifles. Many of the other posters have presented the facts which reveal CBS''s disingenuousness. No more really needs to be added. But I was right in not wasting my time watching this garbage parading as news.
Perhaps when your audience dwindles down to those who can all fit in a football stadium, you will start asking what are you doing wrong. But I''ll bet you will then just blame the viewers for being ignorant. Good Bye.

[FutureShock999]

ahh, the ill-informed cry of the anti-gunner again wails out in imaginary desperation. police are not "out-gunned", nor have they ever been. they are armed in accordance with what the general [voting] public feels is necessary; that''s the way it has always been. when bonnie and clyde were gunned down by authorities, police used a BAR, which is a large caliber, magazine fed, machine gun. a real machine gun too, not a semi-auto, which is vastly different regardless of how much you insist is not. instead of spending so much time here, reading the comments section of a dying news organization, pick up a history book and read about %u201Cprohibition%u201D. the answers to why we have gangs, and gang violence, will be in there. and let me give a hint... it''s NOT because our gun laws.

[beech_35]

What a pathetic piece of alleged journalism. I have seen biased reporting from network news for years but this utter nonsense is over the top. What happened to journalistic integrity? Fact-checking? There are so many inaccuracies and utter lies in this fantasy tale that correcting them will take more space than the story itself.

A couple of years from I''ll be reading that Katie Couric is bringing suit against CBS for unjustified termination. Reading the WSJ probably, since after this piece I''m done with network "news".

Horrible.

[beech_35]

Quote: "The Broward sheriff%u2019s office confiscated 25 of these weapons in a week%u2019s time. Two are versions of the AK-47. They%u2019re cheap, they%u2019re easy to get and they%u2019re powerful enough to pierce body armor."

Sounds to me like they just saved $25,000 for not having to purchase their own.

Obviously CBS news doesn''t think their readers have a brain.

[chrismatheni]

first the president bush national guard story, now this. cbs just cant seem to tell the truth. i am a police officer. i also carry an ar-15 on duty every day. the rifle i carry is semi-automatic just like the rifles available to any law abiding citizen. the video clips of the ak-47 and uzi you showed were of full automatic machineguns. these weapons have been tightly regulated by the federal government since 1934. i bet that the reporter did not ask the thugs they interviewed whether or not they had a legally registered machinegun. if you had done your homework you should have known that he had a semi-auto version of the uzi. this could be known by the 16 inch barrel on the gun. this barrel lenghth is mandated on all semi-auto rifles. this is just another scare tactic used by the media to frighten the uninformed public into thinking that criminals are running around with machineguns. in my years of being a police officer i have never ran up against a full automatic in a criminals hands. most criminals i have delt with were armed with cheap handguns and almost everyone of these was stolen. i urge the public to learn for themselves about guns and not rely on the media to try to educate them. it seems that the media just cant ever get their facts straight.

[whispyseas]

'' ... what multi trillion dollar nuclear biological chemical stealth raype get sick tax world machine screaming ''i dare you to stay off drugs'' and ''i shock and awe you to stay off terror'' and forclosing on each farm, school, hospital in the world ... ''



'' ... most folk most time dance get well feed world, that little girl is evil, lurks among normal, but really get sick tax world, cuff collar mug rape, swear, not porn songs or off backs of dragons to break bones for fun, most behave, but not her, or me till she''s gone ... ''



'' ... can''t give less than free food free medicine 4ever ... nah, to feed the world i must tax all & deny to begging .. soo laughing .. if avg county 577 sq miles, 90,000 folk, 300 16 acre trail crossings,300 (90,000) folk in 300 weeks turn out 90,000 (billions)(little eco friendly non resource depleting) museums of medical you are here map song dance skit kit for small tips, avg home 340 sq ft + 2500 sq ft garden at $2400 - $60,000; then, on cosmic scale: avg cosmic county makeup? how many naked folk dance get well feed world songs rallyd round the sick beds drifting the spore bloom weed dragon trail fickle first aid lunch farm cottage studio trail groups at each crossing? ... ''



'' ... eternal storyboards swimming infinite oceans of eternal storyboards ... ''

[benezra1970]

You have no IDEA how badly you''ve been spun.

U.S. civilian AK''s are not machineguns like in the video, but are identical to a Ruger Mini Thirty deer rifle--same rate of fire, same range of magazine capacities, same effective range. ANY rifle will shoot through blocks or Kevlar, even great-grandpa''s 113-year-old Winchester .30-30. Possession of an actual military AK-47 is a 10-year Federal felony under current law.

The breakdown of confiscated guns mirrors FBI stats--overwhelmingly handguns, with only a small percentage of rifles and shotguns. According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, all rifles combined accounted for only 2.91% of murders in 2006, down from 2.97% in 2005--less than shotguns, knives, clubs, and even fists and feet.

Police departments have been issuing patrol rifles in lieu of shotguns since the 1990''s (my guess would be in the thousands of departments, not 20).

Please, get informed on the issue, and use the same journalistic skepticism for these guys that you''d use for an NRA spokesperson.

To the reporter--I shoot competitively and recreationally with my civilian AK, and it is also legal for deer hunting here in NC. If you''d be interested in shooting a civilian AK for yourself, offline, drop me an email. I think you''d come away with a very different impression than the spin you obtained from the crusaders you talked to.

benEzra

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=118&topic_id=97165

[chrismatheni]

I read that katie''s ratings were off badly. Guess that she thinks this bunch of lies would get them up. It looks to me like she is headed the way of Dan Rather. This is why I watch Fox News. At least they get the facts straight.

[mclmab]

Wow, did you folks at the Clinton Broadcasting Network think up this piece of fictional rubbish by yourselves or did the Brady Bunch write it for you. You were ether too blind looking for an opportunity to lie about firearms, or as in the past were just looking for more yellow journalism to conger up.

The AK-47 is actually a lower powered weapon than the firearms that the average police department have at there disposal. Full automatic No, these were Semi automatic, and no they cannot fire 600 rounds per minute. Armor piecing again No.

With reporting like this, it is not surprising you are going out of business, one can only hope you sleazy network folds up soon.

P.S.
Tell Rather-bias Get a Grip!

[mazeman2]

That piece was shameful.

You folks prey on the uninformed in the hope a advancing your anti-gun philosophy.

The facts are that "assault rifles" are used in only a tiny fraction of crimes, are no more powerful than your average hunting rifle, and have the same mechanism of action as many hunting rifles (one trigger pull equals one shot). Full auto rifles are highly regulated, and are extremely difficult to buy legally.

[kalashnikit]

The real data:

2005 data:
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/05cius/data/table_20.html
Total murders............................14,860.....100.00%
Handguns..................................7,543......50.76%
Other weapons (non firearm, non edged)....1,954......13.15%
Edged weapons.............................1,914......12.88%
Firearms (type unknown)...................1,598......10.75%
Shotguns....................................517.......3.48%
Hands, fists, feet, etc.....................892.......6.00%
Rifles......................................442.......2.97%

2006 data:
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2006/data/table_20.html
Total murders............................14,990.....100.00%
Handguns..................................7,795......52.00%
Other weapons (non firearm, non edged)....2,158......14.40%
Edged weapons.............................1,822......12.15%
Firearms (type unknown)...................1,465.......9.77%
Shotguns....................................481.......3.21%
Hands, fists, feet, etc.....................833.......5.56%
Rifles......................................436.......2.91%

All rifles, semiautomatic "assault" rifles, and all other types combined are used in less than 3% of the reproted murders in the USA. So why is the sky falling again?

[mazeman2]

That piece was shameful.

You folks prey on the uninformed in the hope a advancing your anti-gun philosophy.

The facts are that "assault rifles" are used in only a tiny fraction of crimes, are no more powerful than your average hunting rifle, and have the same mechanism of action as many hunting rifles (one trigger pull equals one shot). Full auto rifles are highly regulated, and are extremely difficult to buy legally.

[novusc]

I hope you realize that if the gang member was a felon, then your reporter probably committed a felony when she handed the firearm back to him.
If he is not a felon, then he was most likely not a gang memmber and a fake.

If he was not a gang member, but the Uzi was an unregistered full auto Uzi, then she probably committed a felony handling it (possessing) and then handing it back to him.
If it was not a full auto Uzi, then the interview was a fake.

Which is it? Will your reporter be investigated by the ATF, or was the story a total fake and staged?

[junabuddha]

The errors in this article are numerous and egregious. First of all, an AK-47 is an automatic rifle. The semi-automatic clones of these rifles are NOT AK-47s.

Furthermore, no civilian firearm can fire "600 rounds at the flick of a finger." This is wrong on multiple levels. There is no ammunition feeding device of which I am aware for civilians that can hold 600 rounds of ammunition. An Uzi might have a 30 round magazine--HARDLY 600. In order to fire 600 rounds, one would have to be carrying TWENTY 30-round magazines and would have to change magazines NINETEEN TIMES--HARDLY "the flick of a finger."

Your erroneous reporting with respect to firearms and the Second Amendment are egregiously unprofessional and unethical. What happened to accurate journalism?

Why are you not running stories about the fact that firearms are used EIGHT TIMES more frequently by law-abiding citizens to prevent crime than by criminals to commit crime? Or that accidental firearms-related deaths are at an all time low in recorded U.S. history? Or that all the mass shootings at schools in recent history only take place in "gun free zones"? Or that Mr. Cho at Virginia Tech circumvented the "one gun per month" purchasing limit by waiting two months to get two handguns before he murdered 32 people? Or that no study has ever shown that gun control laws result in a decrease in violent crime rates?

[junabuddha]

The errors in this article are numerous and egregious. First of all, an AK-47 is an automatic rifle. The semi-automatic clones of these rifles are NOT AK-47s.

Furthermore, no civilian firearm can fire "600 rounds at the flick of a finger." This is wrong on multiple levels. There is no ammunition feeding device of which I am aware for civilians that can hold 600 rounds of ammunition. An Uzi might have a 30 round magazine--HARDLY 600. In order to fire 600 rounds, one would have to be carrying TWENTY 30-round magazines and would have to change magazines NINETEEN TIMES--HARDLY "the flick of a finger."

Your erroneous reporting with respect to firearms and the Second Amendment are egregiously unprofessional and unethical. What happened to accurate journalism?

Why are you not running stories about the fact that firearms are used EIGHT TIMES more frequently by law-abiding citizens to prevent crime than by criminals to commit crime? Or that accidental firearms-related deaths are at an all time low in recorded U.S. history? Or that all the mass shootings at schools in recent history only take place in "gun free zones"? Or that Mr. Cho at Virginia Tech circumvented the "one gun per month" purchasing limit by waiting two months to get two handguns before he murdered 32 people? Or that no study has ever shown that gun control laws result in a decrease in violent crime rates?

[junabuddha]

The errors in this article are numerous and egregious. First of all, an AK-47 is an automatic rifle. The semi-automatic clones of these rifles are NOT AK-47s.

Furthermore, no civilian firearm can fire "600 rounds at the flick of a finger." This is wrong on multiple levels. There is no ammunition feeding device of which I am aware for civilians that can hold 600 rounds of ammunition. An Uzi might have a 30 round magazine--HARDLY 600. In order to fire 600 rounds, one would have to be carrying TWENTY 30-round magazines and would have to change magazines NINETEEN TIMES--HARDLY "the flick of a finger."

Your erroneous reporting with respect to firearms and the Second Amendment are egregiously unprofessional and unethical. What happened to accurate journalism?

Why are you not running stories about the fact that firearms are used EIGHT TIMES more frequently by law-abiding citizens to prevent crime than by criminals to commit crime? Or that accidental firearms-related deaths are at an all time low in recorded U.S. history? Or that all the mass shootings at schools in recent history only take place in "gun free zones"? Or that Mr. Cho at Virginia Tech circumvented the "one gun per month" purchasing limit by waiting two months to get two handguns before he murdered 32 people? Or that no study has ever shown that gun control laws result in a decrease in violent crime rates?

[junabuddha]

The errors in this article are numerous and egregious. First of all, an AK-47 is an automatic rifle. The semi-automatic clones of these rifles are NOT AK-47s.

Furthermore, no civilian firearm can fire "600 rounds at the flick of a finger." This is wrong on multiple levels. There is no ammunition feeding device of which I am aware for civilians that can hold 600 rounds of ammunition. An Uzi might have a 30 round magazine--HARDLY 600. In order to fire 600 rounds, one would have to be carrying TWENTY 30-round magazines and would have to change magazines NINETEEN TIMES--HARDLY "the flick of a finger."

Your erroneous reporting with respect to firearms and the Second Amendment are egregiously unprofessional and unethical. What happened to accurate journalism?

Why are you not running stories about the fact that firearms are used EIGHT TIMES more frequently by law-abiding citizens to prevent crime than by criminals to commit crime? Or that accidental firearms-related deaths are at an all time low in recorded U.S. history? Or that all the mass shootings at schools in recent history only take place in "gun free zones"? Or that Mr. Cho at Virginia Tech circumvented the "one gun per month" purchasing limit by waiting two months to get two handguns before he murdered 32 people? Or that no study has ever shown that gun control laws result in a decrease in violent crime rates?

[junabuddha]

The errors in this article are numerous and egregious. First of all, an AK-47 is an automatic rifle. The semi-automatic clones of these rifles are NOT AK-47s.

Furthermore, no civilian firearm can fire "600 rounds at the flick of a finger." This is wrong on multiple levels. There is no ammunition feeding device of which I am aware for civilians that can hold 600 rounds of ammunition. An Uzi might have a 30 round magazine--HARDLY 600. In order to fire 600 rounds, one would have to be carrying TWENTY 30-round magazines and would have to change magazines NINETEEN TIMES--HARDLY "the flick of a finger."

Your erroneous reporting with respect to firearms and the Second Amendment are egregiously unprofessional and unethical. What happened to accurate journalism?

Why are you not running stories about the fact that firearms are used EIGHT TIMES more frequently by law-abiding citizens to prevent crime than by criminals to commit crime? Or that accidental firearms-related deaths are at an all time low in recorded U.S. history? Or that all the mass shootings at schools in recent history only take place in "gun free zones"? Or that Mr. Cho at Virginia Tech circumvented the "one gun per month" purchasing limit by waiting two months to get two handguns before he murdered 32 people? Or that no study has ever shown that gun control laws result in a decrease in violent crime rates?

[junabuddha]

The errors in this article are numerous and egregious. First of all, an AK-47 is an automatic rifle. The semi-automatic clones of these rifles are NOT AK-47s.

Furthermore, no civilian firearm can fire "600 rounds at the flick of a finger." This is wrong on multiple levels. There is no ammunition feeding device of which I am aware for civilians that can hold 600 rounds of ammunition. An Uzi might have a 30 round magazine--HARDLY 600. In order to fire 600 rounds, one would have to be carrying TWENTY 30-round magazines and would have to change magazines NINETEEN TIMES--HARDLY "the flick of a finger."

Your erroneous reporting with respect to firearms and the Second Amendment are egregiously unprofessional and unethical. What happened to accurate journalism?

Why are you not running stories about the fact that firearms are used EIGHT TIMES more frequently by law-abiding citizens to prevent crime than by criminals to commit crime? Or that accidental firearms-related deaths are at an all time low in recorded U.S. history? Or that all the mass shootings at schools in recent history only take place in "gun free zones"? Or that Mr. Cho at Virginia Tech circumvented the "one gun per month" purchasing limit by waiting two months to get two handguns before he murdered 32 people? Or that no study has ever shown that gun control laws result in a decrease in violent crime rates?

[junabuddha]

The errors in this article are numerous and egregious. First of all, an AK-47 is an automatic rifle. The semi-automatic clones of these rifles are NOT AK-47s.

Furthermore, no civilian firearm can fire "600 rounds at the flick of a finger." This is wrong on multiple levels. There is no ammunition feeding device of which I am aware for civilians that can hold 600 rounds of ammunition. An Uzi might have a 30 round magazine--HARDLY 600. In order to fire 600 rounds, one would have to be carrying TWENTY 30-round magazines and would have to change magazines NINETEEN TIMES--HARDLY "the flick of a finger."

Your erroneous reporting with respect to firearms and the Second Amendment are egregiously unprofessional and unethical. What happened to accurate journalism?

Why are you not running stories about the fact that firearms are used EIGHT TIMES more frequently by law-abiding citizens to prevent crime than by criminals to commit crime? Or that accidental firearms-related deaths are at an all time low in recorded U.S. history? Or that all the mass shootings at schools in recent history only take place in "gun free zones"? Or that Mr. Cho at Virginia Tech circumvented the "one gun per month" purchasing limit by waiting two months to get two handguns before he murdered 32 people? Or that no study has ever shown that gun control laws result in a decrease in violent crime rates?

[scurtis_3447]

Seldom have I seen a news organization get more things wrong in one story than CBS did in this one.

1. There is nothing extra powerful about the 7.62x39 round that AKs shoot. It is virtually identical to the .30-30 Winchester round commonly used in deer hunting. Virtually ANY rifle round will penetrate police body armor, which is only designed to stop handgun rounds.

2. Two of the rifles identified as AK variants were SKS rifles, which were used by the Russian army in WWII. They use a completely different design and no version of the SKS has ever been capable of full-auto operation.

3. The AK rifles available for civilian purchase in the U.S. are semi-automatic only. They are not machine guns. Inexpensive AK variants start around $400 and high-quality examples can cost closer to $800. The majority of the people who own them are law abiding people who use them for home defense, target shooting and even hunting (with a 5-round magazine).

4. The Uzi that idiot gangbanger was holding is not capable of "spraying" anything. It is a semi-automatic weapon.

5. There is no epidemic of gun violence. The FBI Murder by Weapon Type statistics show that rifles are only used in less than 3% of murders. More people are beaten to death with bare hands than are killed with rifles. More than twice as many people are stabbed to death than are killed with rifles and shotguns combined. Furthermore, the percentage of rifle murders actually went DOWN from 2005 to 2006.

[themrmitch]

I am 65 years old and have NEVER seen a more blatant disregard for truth in the story of "Police Upgrading Their Firepower". Never.

Are you people for real?

[melodycpcu]

Amazing, do you people have no shame or integrity? You attempt to convince the general public that you offer facts, truth, balanced and accurate reporting. In reality you offer fiction, distortions and bold faced lies. This hatchet job you did is even a new low for you. I stopped watching your fantasies that you sleeze merchants attempt to pass off as reporting long ago, you spin every report to inflate a distorted agenda. Further allow your %u201CAnchors%u201D to make up lies to ruin the life of innocent people to the President.

Now you attack the Bill of Rights, in all cases your reports (I use the term loosely) are poorly thought out fabrications.

Just for teh record, the SKS rifle has never been manufactured in full automatic form. The AK-47 sold in the United States are not cheap, all sold are semi automatic, and would be impossible for anyone to have fired 600 rounds in one minute. Uzi sold here are also Semi Automatic, again 600 rounds, impossable.

Enough of your fabrications, I will look forward to the day CBS goes dark and we never hear another lie broadcast from this horrible excuse of a network. Perhaps the people you feel are so stupid, should petition the FCC to revoke the Broadcast licenses of every station nationwide that is one of you affiliates.

Personally will support the boycott of you local affiliate and the sponsors where I live. It would be a wonderful day when CBS is a just bad memory.

[gixman19]

I usually have a problem with the way reporting is handled in the news. The other posts state there are problems with some facts presented. So be it. However, the focus of the story should not be ignored. Your men and women in policing that protect the population 24 hours a day are outgunned. It may be that only 3% of murders involve a rifle but that is 3% too many for any victim especially when that murder involves someone who dedicates their life to the public. Society should not allow the people who are interested in furthering their own criminal agendas outgun the ones we rely on to protect us. The police state may cometh but this may be necessary to get things back in order. I want to afford the officer the ability to go home at the end of their shift. I also want to provide the officer with the tools needed to protect me when I am in imminent danger.