Where's my tank?
There is a growing number of individuals in this nation that are looking at the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) as though it has become a division of "Toys R Us." The following video report illustrates the reason why.
Many people are concerned, and rightly so, with the current trend of militarizing our civilian police force. I think that almost everyone would agree that the police, when caught in a firefight, need reliable armament and cover. It is the attitude and rhetoric that have people worried the most.
Listen to "Sgt. Dan Downing of the Morgan County [Indiana] Sheriff's Department" state that, "When I first started we really didn't have the violence that we see today," adding, "The weaponry is totally different now that it was in the beginning of my career, plus, you have a lot of people who are coming out of the military that have the ability and knowledge to build IEDs and to defeat law enforcement techniques."
One person who had observed this video commented: "And here I was thinking the FBI statistics have been saying violent crime as well as crime in general was at its lowest point in since 1967... Except the rates really are down and its not thanks to police or the courts who let criminals go on plea deals. Its the drastic increase in gun ownership namely among women. I have to wonder. How did the Cops in 1967 handle the higher violence rates without machine guns and armored vehicles?"
Valid points and questions. But, what has a lot of military veterans upset is the implication that American military veterans are being systematically profiled as potential domestic terrorists. I know that there have been some major cases where military veterans have turned into violent criminals, but the majority of veterans are not only law-abiding, but they would be the first to go after the outlaws.
Military veterans should be considered an asset to homeland security, not a liability.
Homeland security begins in the home, and the 'armed citizen' is the first line of defense!
/fl