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Ralphie Parker wanted nothing more in life than a Red Rider BB gun, and said as much to his mother, father and Santa Claus. Naturally, he was met with a healthy dose of skepticism, as we all know kids with glasses shouldn’t go anywhere near firearms. Or other people. Everyone told him that he’d shoot his eye out, and when he finally found the opportunity to fire off a round, he did. There are two lessons here, the first of which is that at no point in time should you look down the barrel of a quasi-dangerous children’s weapon. The other is to always ask Santa for cash.
Much like little Ralphie, the Madison Police Department also feels they need some new weaponry to ogle at, and although the Red Rider is a far cry from the personally sighted assault rifles the fuzz are asking for, it’s hard not to look at this situation with the same sense of hesitance. It’s doubtful that anyone’s worried about potential optometry bills, but the question remains: Why do they need these?
According to the MPD, the weapons are needed to replace the 142 universally sighted assault rifles that are currently shared among the officers. The problem with the old guns is that the sights, which help officers line up shots, aren’t perfectly calibrated for specific officers. Think of it as if everyone in the police department had to use the same 142 gloves for the company softball game, if gloves were used to kill and intimidate poor people. Keep in mind that in both situations alcohol consumption is recommended.
But before someone starts off on how this is another example of wasting taxpayer dollars, there’s a catch: Officers wanting these weapons would pay for them with their own money. This is where your mind gets blown. Every year, we’re told how unsafe Madison is, and how we need to put more officers onto payroll and into the street. Yet, when it comes to equipping these same officers with weapons they allegedly “need,” we stop the gravy train. Someone is in the wrong here, and there’s a good chance it’s everybody.
The Madison Police Department has never encountered a situation that warranted 142 assault rifles, no matter how they’re sighted. In fact, it’s hard to think of the last time anyone on American soil needed that many guns, unless you count the Source Awards and parties at Ted Nugent’s place. If it’s important for MPD to have assault rifles, which in itself is debatable, and they need to be personally sighted, take those ones you have laying around in storage and equip them with better sighting mechanisms.
The problem is, as a non-law enforcement member, I can’t be absolutely, positively, “O.J.-did-it” sure that these guns are unnecessary. Maybe the police do need more rifles. After all, you have to deter 19-year-olds from drinking somehow. But by making it an optional program in which any city money spent will be reimbursed, the police are admitting that this is about as urgent an issue as smoking smarties.
If the MPD want something, they typically get it — unless it’s a murder suspect. It’s as true in this town as it is in any other. Lawmakers are frequently voted in because they take “tough stances on crime”, and DAs love to flaunt their incarceration rates like they represent the number of fights they’ve won or holographic Pok�mon cards. If the police say they need more officers to battle Madison’s extremely reasonable crime rates, we fund them for an armada. And yet, here they are paying for their own guns. And it’s only come to this because the City Council already shot down a bill that had the city footing the bill. They’re the spoiled brats of Madison, and for once in their lives, Mom’s not doling out dessert.
Dreams of assault guns are scary enough when you’re 9 years old and playing Tet Offensive in your neighbor’s backyard. When a legitimate organization in a mid-sized college town suggests the 142 they already have aren’t good enough to keep everyone safe, something is terribly wrong. If the Soviets invade next week and we’re caught with our pants down, then my bad. But until then the last thing this town needs is a more intimidating police force.
Sean Kittridge ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism.
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“Think of it as if everyone in the police department had to use the same 142 gloves for the company softball game, if gloves were used to kill and intimidate poor people. Keep in mind that in both situations alcohol consumption is recommended.”
Shame on you, kid. I’d much rather live in a city with a strong police presence than a city in which the police aren’t a credible deterrent.
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I assume then you’d like living in a place where the police dictate your life? It’s really not a stretch when the force is so well equipped. Who knows, you could be the next person getting tazered by a crazy ass cop.
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Put the pot down moron
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A rifle sight has to be adjusted for the person at a rifle range. With an AR-15 type military rifle, the user should be able to hit a 2-inch target at 100 yards as well as have funtionality at shorter ranges. With that in mind, it makes sense that the police would own their own guns.
Problem of crime is due to no conceal carry allowed in Wis.
The problem of armed robbery, muggings, etc. would go down if Wisconsin joined the other 48 states that require law enforcement to issue carry permits. Interviews with prison inmates suggest that an armed citizen is something they are afraid of. That’s why the above crimes have decreased in states that adopted “shall issue” laws.
Wisconsin was taken over in the 1960s by the hippies who moved here from Ill, NY and Michigan, such as the types of the bomber William Ayers.
These ACORN-type politicians don’t believe in the constitution and never have. Accordingly, law-abiding citizens are stripped of their rights of self-defense.
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Good God, 10:17, you are so talented at working rhetoric into any discussion. Do you have a list of everything that scares you, because, I could imagine, that just about anything besides baseball and apple pies makes you piss your shorts a little.
Look at all the American people or organizations you fear: Liberals, hippies, ACORN, Pelosi, Reid, etc. Who makes you cry like a little girl most: The Mormon grandpa, the frail San Francisco grandma, the community organizers giving tax advice to fake pimps, or that granola dude in the Prius? Grow a pair, dude. Quit whining.
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Hilarious article. Laughs and good times were had by all (me). Dugg for Christmas Story.
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You say that you are a senior in journalism? Really?
Perhaps a personally sighted keyboard and monitor would do the trick for you. While your article rambles and fails to support your point (which itself rambles a bit), it does explain one thing. I now understand why newspapers have such poor writing staffs and how they become so slanted toward liberal politics.
Perhaps another year at the “UW” is in order. If anything, you have made the point that funding for the University journalism program has been cut too deeply.
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Kid, in what world are you living in? This was to funny.
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Was this a high school writing assignment? I’m sorry. I just insulted a bunch of high schoolers.
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You’ve got a lot more real life experiences to go through before you can determine what a police report needs. Have you ever shot a gun? Ever had a gun pointed at you? How exactly do you have any idea what the officers should have? You don’t support your claim with any facts.
You are obviously another product of the liberal left government school system. Your journalism appears to be at a 1st grade level at best.
“if gloves were used to kill and intimidate poor people” that has to be the most ignorant statement of the century. Not sure even where to begin. Try going to a different school.
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What happened to “objective” journalism???? I would also think in order to write such an article you would have to go to the police department and interview a few of those folks as well instead of “hearing” about something then “reporting” your opinion!!!
I took high school journalism and this article wouldn’t have cut it with my instructor.
Just as an aside to this…so many people now do NOT know how to use correct grammar, spelling etc.! It drives me crazy that so-called college educated people are amongst these individuals!!
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This is an opinion, not journalism. Durr.
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i wasn’t aware that objective journalism was required in the “opinion” section of the paper…
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�if gloves were used to kill and intimidate poor people�. You obviously have no respect for Law Enforcement or you would not make such dumb remark. I now understand why the written media is going downhill. You say you are a senior of journalism? I suggest you stay in college until you are 50. That was one of the most one-sided, badly written articles I have ever read. Change majors, maybe basket weaving suits you better.
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Maybe the author needs to spend a little less time on campus and a little more on Allied Drive or East Washington. Spend some time away from his safe zone where he thinks Madison is a college town and the police exist to rein in underage drinking.
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Good lord, you’re just plain retarded.
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I support the right of every citizen to carry a gun. It’s the only way to avoid being the victim of a violent crime, whether the assailant is a criminal or a liberal or a fascist. A well-armed population is not easy to oppress.
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Only women should be allowed to carry guns. Let the men use their bare hands.
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You really need to start school all over again !!! Or just find another occupation because you clearly have no idea what you are talking about !!! Try covering sports but please don’t put any of your own thoughts into your columns.
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You really need to start school all over again !!! Or just find another occupation because you clearly have no idea what you are talking about !!! Try covering sports but please don’t put any of your own thoughts into your columns.
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This is a shining example of why I’ve gradually come to realize my journalism degree from the UW is worthless.
Surely, the author and his pals in the J school are giddy about what an “insightful” and “nuanced” piece this is. What witty satire! And too bad the unwashed among us are too tied to our closed minded, xenophobic worldview to understand the struggle for justice!
Here’s my tip for you, sir: Go to grad school. Get your PhD in journalism and mass com. Never leave a university setting. Because once you put on your big boy pants, you find out drivel like this doesn’t cut it outside of academia.
Boom. outta here.
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I see your other anti-police article has no facts or details or actually reporting. This is now a pattern. I suggest you move somewhere where the police don’t get involved as much…perhaps South Africa.
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Amazing….
First, congratulations on using metaphors and similes!!!
Second, I can name numerous times in the last decade that required large numbers of assault weapons. Hurricane Katrina made the deployment of police and national guard units crucial to prevent property and violent crime. School shootings and other events requiring SWAT teams would be nothing without assault weapons. Jenna Six not to mention Wisconsin’s own shooting that occured in a high school a few years ago (I can’t remember the nate of the high school at this moment). There was the hostage crisis at NASA. Numerous bank robberies occur.
Some cops are asshole and will go after underage drinkers, but most are too busy protecting the citizens, so college students instead of being affraid of crime, can write cliche columns on how the police don’t deserve any money or equipment because a couple of cops may write a couple underage drinking tickets.
By the way, Northern Illinois University, Yale, and Virginia Tech prove that violence can incite on college campuses. It is no secret that violence has occured on the UW-Madison campus in the past. Sterling Hall!!!!! With a large University in town the state capital, and a greater metropolitan area of almost half a million people, the MPD is smart to have the best weapons they can keep us all safe
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Wow, kind of near-sighted for an article isn’t it? Next time you are in any kind of jamb and you need some assistance from the Police, and you don’t get what you want because they didn’t have the right equipment, don’t go crying. If they are willing to pay with their own money, doesn’t it seem like they may really need/want it? Personally, if my work doesn’t give me what I want, very rarely do I go out and buy it (other than writing utensils and other misc cheap supplies). For a city who had to beg, literally beg for more officers, it is not hard to see why they continue to get snubbed.
Maybe you should do an article on the waste of money proposed for the roof-top gardens on the new library? Doubtful though, when it comes to practicality you are against it, but when it is time for frivolous spending I bet you are all for it.
Thanks for wasting resources, time, and patience of those who read this. You sir have shown me how intelligent some UW-Madison students really aren’t. I hope you aren’t being funded from my tax dollars for your tuition, if so, I demand a refund, I am not satisfied with my purchase!
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Yes, Jerad, clearly all of the instances you mentioned required nearly 150 random police officers to haul their rifles out of the squad car and simultaneously head-shoot someone at 100 yards.
Get a grip, at most the police department could probably use a few dozen sharp shooters to ensure universal availability for SWAT situations. Anything bigger than that is going to take the National Guard anyway.
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2:47, remember the 1997 North Hollywood shootout involving just two robbers with fully automatic assualt weapons who wounded ten cops and required the response of 300 officers, including SWAT, who needed to use their fully automatic assualt weapons to kill one of the robbers.
Let’s see 150 officers on three different shifts to cover the whole city amounts to 50 officers armed with semi-auto ( guessing AR15’s) weapons per shift. Sounds like the MPD will need the National Guard just to stop two well armed robbers.
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In England, guns are strictly outlawed. I believe cops don’t even carry guns, or rarely carry guns. Since criminals can’t get guns, they stab their victims. Since everyone and their grandma packs a sidearm in America, we need Dirty Harry Cops with bazookas. Thanks 2nd amendment.
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The English must be overreacting to those knife only carrying criminals to be having special units in every station armed with machine guns like H&K MP5’s.
What about those EU countries like France, Italy and Germany that I’ve visited, who don’t have the 2nd Amendment so grandmas can pack heat,who severely restrict civilian ownership of firearms, they require their street police to carry automatic pistols and even before 9/11 their officers carried machine guns?
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to 7:37
Yes, you are right about needing the National Guard. But if I remember correctly, the robbers in ‘97 were covered from head to toe in body armor, making them virtually unstoppable. Give the MPD a few newer fully automatic weapons and any similar conflict here is resolved, just as it was in ‘97. You said yourself that the SWAT team with those weapons got the job done, so wouldn’t a few policemen with them take care of the situation?
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8:47 To activate the National Guard would take days by then the criminals would have gotten away. SWAT took 18 minutes to respond to the incident resulting in 10 officers getting wounded. Now if those officers who arrived first at the North Hollywood shooting were armed with semi-auto AR15’s, ( they had to get them at a nearby gun store) the 5.45mm FMJ bullet coming out of the AR15 would have easily penetrated the soft body armor of the bank robbers. Instead the first LA officers to arrive at the scene were armed only with semi-auto pistols and shotguns that could not defeat the soft body armor of the bank robbers.
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1:35PM, are you the same feminist POS who posted here last week about castrating all the men? You can carry a pea shooter and that’s it!
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And this is Journalism? I hope that you get an F of being a flippin retard. “The police gunning down the poor” ??? You haven’t the first clue about life. Why don’t you live it a little more before you open your ignorant mouth.
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Try and digest the following: Modern Liberals are incapable of doing the right thing because in doing so they would have to judge bad behavior. This is against their philosophy. Remember, we are supposed to be “tolerant”. It’s not about accepting people who are different; it’s about forcing us not to judge bad behaviors that make us not equal. To the Modern Liberal, everything has to be equal. The Modern Liberals take this thinking to the extreme and that is why they go after inanimate object (like guns), why they tear down the institutions that help people (like churches), and why they come up with do-nothing programs. They are aware that people are dying, but they cannot and will not do anything because of their philosophy. Basically, they aspire to a Utopian vision where there is no fighting, arguing, war, poverty or injustice. Sounds great, eh? It’s actually terrible. It’s terrible because, in order to get there, we ALL have to give up the tools we have learned over the centuries like morals, ethics and reason. The mere thought of using these tools is a problem for them because it could create conflict and take us away from the Utopia. You and I wonder why they do what they do (and we yell and scream about it), but the reason they ignore the problems is because they have to. Watch the video “HOW MODERN LIBERALS THINK” by Evan Sayet. It’s very good.
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Tolerance to the liberals is only for the adjenda’s “they” feel are politically correct. Right now it’s not “P.C.” for people to have guns (even our police). It’s a crazy way of thinking….that “if” people don’t have guns, THEN there won’t be violence which just doesn’t have any proof or bearing at all. Also, the liberals will say “we” (conservatives) aren’t “tolerant” because we don’t think the same way they do.
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“Naturally, he was met with a healthy dose of skepticism, as we all know kids with glasses shouldn�t go anywhere near firearms. Or other people.”
Is English not your first language or you just don’t think you need to proof read? Are you really saying that you don’t think that people with glasses should go near other people? What are your feelings about people with greater disabilities?
The rest of your paper was nothing but unsubstantiated drivel, but great way to start such tripe
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Naturally, he was met with a healthy dose of skepticism, as we all know kids with glasses shouldn�t go anywhere near firearms. Or other people.
Is English not your first language or you just don’t think you need to proof read? Are you really saying that you don’t think that people with glasses should go near other people? What are your feelings about people with greater disabilities?
The rest of your paper was nothing but unsubstantiated drivel, but great way to start such tripe
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NorthHollywoodshootout
Maybe this numbnut could learn his history before he steps anywhere near a keyboard again.
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The dumbing down in our schools continues. You are a journalism major? When my daughter wrote papers this bad in seventh grade, I made her rewrite them.
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So let me get this straight.. Officers will spend their own money to buy a rifle that will be more accurate? To ensure their shot goes exactly where they want it, instead of “hoping” their rifle is sighted to their eye? And you have a problem with this?
If some cop needs to take a shot at someone, and I’m anywhere close by, I sure hope they hit what they’re aiming at…
And they’re spending their own money to do it? The nerve of them!
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Police Officers want to use their own money to buy weapons that they feel will make them and the community which has refused to purchase said weapons safer? Well, they are obviously racist.
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Not only is this article poorly written, the author appears to be living on another planet. Is this what UW-Madison is turning out through their journalism program? Next time you write something, please try to make clear, cognizant statements. Also, try reading a few books (from various viewpoints) and put together some facts prior to writing. As it is, it appears that your entire ‘wealth’ of background info come from a bumpersticker.
For decades, most police officers have provided their own back-up weapons. Law enforcement is a dangerous profession. Although there are hundreds of hours of boring, mundane, slow moving, ‘nothing happening’ work, there are the occassional moments of life threatening, fearful, dangerous stuff, too.
One does not need to look back very far in the news annals to find instances when law enforcement was out-gunned. Remember the North Hollywood shoot-out in 1997? The city council and the police chief had determined that the local P.D. didn’t need substantial firearms. The cops had to go to a local gun shop and ‘borrow’ AR-15’s and AK’s while the shoot-out was underway.
History makes a clear point, Police Officers need to be well armed, and well practiced in the use of those arms. Each officer needs to have his or her own weapons that are outfitted to meet thier specific needs, fit their specific physique, and have those arms always at the ready.
So, with all of the above in mind, I would say that you, Mr.Kittridge, are an idiot. And, your editor that allowed the printing of your ill-conceived, poorly written article, is not too far behind.
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Wow, reading all of these comments makes me wonder how much smarter Sean Kittridge is than his readers. His writing is at an intelligence level many times greater than the level where most of these readers are commenting. Regardless of whether or not you agree with the column, half of the commenters make it painstakingly obvious that they fail to grasp where sarcasm is used in the article and where the column is serious. Or even the point that the piece is attempting to convey. Kittridge’s journalism education is insulted, yet the person doing the insulting isn’t even educated enough to correctly interpret his writings. Fail.
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That’s exactly what I was thinking as I read through the comments. This is actually a very well-written article that uses humor and SARCASM to make a point. The majority of commenters are apparently too dense to grasp this concept.
I agree with Sean, there is NO reason why a police force in Madison, WI would need 147 personally sighted assault rifles. Isn’t the point of a rifle that you only need a few people to make very accurate shots?
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He used humor? Please show me where.
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Why do people use the word “Fail” ? To emphasize internet superiority?
“If the MPD want something, they typically get it � unless it�s a murder suspect. It�s as true in this town as it is in any other. Lawmakers are frequently voted in because they take �tough stances on crime�, and DAs love to flaunt their incarceration rates like they represent the number of fights they�ve won or holographic Pok�mon cards. If the police say they need more officers to battle Madison�s extremely reasonable crime rates, we fund them for an armada. And yet, here they are paying for their own guns. And it�s only come to this because the City Council already shot down a bill that had the city footing the bill. They�re the spoiled brats of Madison, and for once in their lives, Mom�s not doling out dessert.”
Re-read the last line of that paragraph. How is that sarcasm? It isn’t. This is how he feels about our police protecting us. Maybe the issue some of us have with this opinion piece is the blatant disrespect he shows for police officers. There are a few of us on campus who actually appreciate what the police do. Maybe 147 is excessive, but maybe it isn’t. But being bitter about getting busted for an underage is no excuse to verbally shit all over the MPD
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Your life experience only expands to the edges of downtown Madison. Wow, how about leaving the apartment your mommy and daddy pay for a get some life experience. Move to the Badger Ln. area where dude mourning the death of a family member gets his ass kicked by 3 guys. Come back in 1 yr and see if you feel the same way about your article.
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“Individually Sighted”, by definition, would mean that each officer would have their own, thus the need for 147 rifles. If you share rifles, you can’t have them individually sighted. If they need a rifle, but don’t have one, are you suggesting they just stand around and wait for someone to show up who has one, or do you want whichever officer shows up first to have access to one?
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I’m sure they will not ever have a need to have 147 rifles at once, but I’m quite sure at some point, one of the officers will need one of them. So, who gets the rifle?
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Song For My Son / Children / Weapons . I have a gift of music entitled Song For My Son regarding children and weapons I invite you to view my song on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gey8AAlMHDs
God Bless all the children Mickey
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I will just reiterate the things many people here have already said: you seriously do not know what you are talking about, and this article is idiotic. You don’t know anything about law enforcement or even basic crime statistics for the City of Madison. From, “The MPD usually gets everything it wants, except murder suspects! HAW HAW HAW!” to, “Why do they need guns to take care of Madison’s EXTREMELY REASONABLE CRIME RATES?” you don’t even know what you think you believe, nor do you put up a convincing facade of competence.