TheGunBlog.ca — A Vancouver police memo said officers armed with long rifles such as AR-15s can deter terrorists or stop them after they have begun to attack, the Georgia Straight website said, quoting the police report.

The document by Ken Athans, acting Inspector with the Emergency and Operational Planning Section of the Vancouver Police Department, was included for review at a board meeting tomorrow, the Georgia Straight said yesterday on its website.

Athans wrote the memo in response to a complaint about the display of rifles at a public event in June, the news site said.

The AR-15 is a favourite of militaries, police, home defenders, plinkers and competitive shooters around the world for its accuracy, reliability, weight, size and versatility. Almost every police cruiser in Canada is equipped with one, Blue Line magazine reported a year ago.

From the Georgia Straight, Quoting the Athans Report

Evidence demonstrates that the presence of long rifles, with or without vehicle barriers, can serve to deter a terrorist attack.

When a terrorist attack does occur … a trained police member armed with a long rifle improves his or her ability to stop the continued path of a vehicle borne attack and can react swiftly to stop an assailant who exits a suspect vehicle to continue the attack by other means.

The single biggest advancement in police capability to respond to active deadly threats in Canada has been the introduction of the patrol carbine.

When equipped with the modern electronic sight, the carbine is both incredibly fast and extremely accurate at distances much farther than handguns, and could achieve a disabling shot, including in crowd situations.

From the Complainant

In my opinion, assault rifles in public crowds are unsafe. I feel this level of weapons is overkill. What are the police going to do open fire and spray a hailstorm of bullets into a crowd?

Related Information

• Saskatchewan Conservation Officers to Get AR-15s for Protection
• RCMP Failed to Provide Guns, Training: Full Text of Court Ruling
• Canada’s Police Guns 2018: Blue Line Magazine Survey

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