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The North Hollywood shootout was an armed confrontation between two heavily armed bank robbers, Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu, and patrol and SWAT officers of the Los Angeles Police Department in North Hollywood, California on February 28, 1997. It happened when responding patrol officers engaged Phillips, 26[citation needed] and Matasareanu, 30[citation needed] leaving a bank which the two men had just robbed. Ten officers and seven civilians sustained injuries before both robbers were killed.[2] Phillips and Matasareanu had robbed several armored vehicles prior to their attempt in North Hollywood and were notorious for their heavy armament, which included automatic rifles.
Local patrol officers at the time were typically armed with 9 mm or .38 Special pistols on their person, with some having a 12-gauge shotgun available in their cars. Phillips and Matasareanu carried fully automatic rifles, with ammunition capable of penetrating police body armor, and wore military grade body armor of their own. Since the police handguns could not penetrate the bank robbers' body armor, the patrol officers' efforts were ineffective. SWAT eventually arrived with weapons that could penetrate and several officers also appropriated AR-15 rifles from a nearby firearms dealer. The incident sparked debate on the appropriate firepower for patrol officers to have available in similar situations in the future.[3]
The ineffectiveness of the pistol rounds and shotgun pellets in penetrating the robbers' body armor led to a trend in the United States toward arming selected police patrol officers with semi-automatic 5.56 mm AR-15 type rifles.[11] Seven months after the incident, The Pentagon gave 600 surplus M16s to the LAPD, which were issued to each patrol sergeant;[23] other cities, such as Miami, also moved to supply patrol officers, not just SWAT teams, with heavier firepower.[24] LAPD patrol vehicles now carry AR-15s as standard issue, with bullet-resistant Kevlar plating in their doors as well.[25]
Originally posted by SmokeandShadow
rc, I think that the fear is that eventually, all officers will be more like soldiers, there to enforce enumerable unjust laws, choking out the last vestiges of free society by increments like what is being done in Maine. It sounds paranoid, but it is not improbable.
Originally posted by jam321
You know that terrorist don't come in through the Northern border. That only happens on the Southern border.
Originally posted by jam321
AR-15 are ok with me.
Originally posted by PirateShark
Emphasis on slip. Should any terrorists be entering our country with the intent of causing havoc, I doubt they will come to the border toting weapons.
Originally posted by hawaiinguy12
Well I can already tell that you are very close minded and you probably are one of the folks who actually believe the official story of 9/11 so it is pretty pointless to even argue with you about this subject.
Originally posted by hawaiinguy12
And if you have been doing your homework you would see that many different groups around the country (usually liberal) are starting to label the teapartyers and people who believe in the second amendment as a hate group and a terrorist organization. So think about it..who do you really think these weapons are going to intimidate or even be used on. Thats right, the American public!