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-Land of the Free
St. Louis county police officer and his AR
2014-08-16
As a personal preference, I'd rather use open sights. I do not like the idea of looking through a soda straw to acquire a target. My thinking is that you do not need a scope to be a sniper: just a steady hand and a cold heart. The semiautomatic helps if that first shot is a miss. So does a bipod.

Just my .02 kopeks.

The photo above, which features a camouflaged police officer sitting atop a mine-resistant armored truck in Ferguson, Missouri, with a decked-out rifle, has been widely circulated as evidence of how militarized the American police force has become. To the trained eye, it's also suggestive of how poorly prepared those police are to be militarized.

Reddit's gun aficionados are pointing out that the rifle is so loaded with conflicting gadgets—a flashlight, "red dot" sight, bipod—that it demonstrates that the officer probably isn't very familiar with using it. One user, who owns two similar weapons, called it a "novice" setup. Others called it "goofy," "HORRIBLE," and a "waste of taxpayer dollars." It's also part of a trend—many of the rifles being used in Ferguson have the same setup, which baffles the gun owners and enthusiasts over at r/Guns.
Posted by:badanov

#15  Poster child of the whole situation. Sure the big kid strong armed a store, without a weapon. Sure the Police came out armed as this is Afghanistan. A witness live Tweeting the actual shooting said the kid was running away from the cop when he was shot twice in the back and then was shot 5 times when he turned around.

Loose, loose situation. No good guys any where in this picture.
Posted by: Ebbomosh Hupemp2664   2014-08-16 20:33  

#14  Very good point, #11 GS.
Posted by: Barbara   2014-08-16 16:45  

#13  Well at least he doesn't have his finger on the trigger... I've seen congresscritters do worse while posing as go called 'experts'.
Posted by: CrazyFool   2014-08-16 16:17  

#12  Geardo is the term the E-4 mafia uses sometimes.
Posted by: 11A5S   2014-08-16 15:34  

#11  OK so the guy (or his armorer) is a putz. Considering who he's most likely to be shooting at, would you prefer he be competent?
Posted by: Gleating Stalin9879   2014-08-16 15:10  

#10  What beso said @ 4. Get your own team colors if you are going to play riot suppression. It is causing confusion and ridicule. And as far as the feds, remember the BLM's Special Agent Operator Poundcake's mess?

Looks like a bunch of soccer players putting on spiffy football gear and taking the field, hoping somebody else doesn't take the field, and I mean that as advice. Because:

He looks like a model for Tacticool Magazine. Luv the quintpod doood. If I were wanting to make a steady shot, the last thing I would want is a tag from my gloves tickling my wrist everytime the breeze changed. In fact, I wouldn't want gloves on anyways especially sitting up on top of a vehicle in the middle of the day. Where's your reflective belt soldier? Also missing are sunglasses, goggles, water, trimmed beard, paintball launcher, and around-corners barrel.

I'm sure Ferguson is a charming neighborhood with little picket fences and toy dogs dressed in bows. This looks over-amped, and over-amped makes people stupid.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2014-08-16 14:05  

#9  TactiCool Fool. Looks like some wannabe at the gun club.

ProTip - use a spotter, all that shit on your rifle screws the stability of the platform. Well zero'd rifle, one proper scope, and a bipod is all you need if you have a spotter.
Posted by: OldSpook   2014-08-16 13:19  

#8  The whole set up is goofy.
Posted by: JohnQC   2014-08-16 13:00  

#7  All the gun bling aside, he looks like he's been on a shopping trip to 5.11 Tactical. That's where the gloves are from and maybe the watch too. Snort.
Posted by: Sonny Glarong6820   2014-08-16 09:36  

#6  15%? Or am I being overly generous ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-08-16 09:08  

#5  ...few if any available donut shops up in that part of the Great White North. Borrow a handful of mid-grade NCOs from the 82nd as test proctors and administer the standard PT test on these guys. Guess on the percentage that could pass?
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-08-16 09:04  

#4  No need for black, camo, or OD pickle suits. Better they establish police presence in distinctive police uniforms.

Point of the day. With snark.
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-08-16 08:49  

#3  Apart from all the other s#!t, why the hell do police need camoflage? They hiding in the grass to shoot unarmed protesters who can't shoot back?
Posted by: AlanC   2014-08-16 08:39  

#2  Actually, the 'gun bling' thing was alive and well in CentCom. Not just sights, guys would get 100+ rd snail magazines and mount them, before they realized they were going to carry around the weight of 4 or 5 reg magazines on their rifle. The philosophy is "I'll try anything stupid thing once."
Posted by: ed in texas   2014-08-16 08:02  

#1  The Governor of Missouri and St. Louis County got the memo [phone call from Washington]. Lose the 'show of force' optics or we're cutting off funding and moving in Federal Law Enforcement and Homeland Security, your choice.

Had it been a coal miner strike in West Virginia, or other event involving non-entitlement personnel, there would have likely been no phone call from Washington.

As far as the 'nerd with the gear' he wouldn't have lasted long in either Iraq or AFG in a small arms fire incident or complex attack. My personal prejudice involves the wearing of tactical gloves.
Posted by: Besoeker   2014-08-16 06:41  

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