by In an editorial published this evening, Investor’s Business Daily is rightly questioning the purchase of over 2,700 armored vehicles – MRAPs – by the Department of Homeland Security. They note that these vehicles were designed to resist mines and ambush attacks in Iraq.
So how does DHS say they plan to use these vehicles?
A DHS officer, Robert Whitaker, stationed in El Paso, Texas, recently proudly described the agency’s new armored toy as “Mine-resistant … we use to deliver our team to high-risk warrant services … (with) gun ports so we can actually shoot from within the vehicle; you may think it’s pretty loud but actually it’s not too bad … we have gun ports there in the back and two on the sides as well. They are designed for .50-caliber weapons.”
This is needed to serve warrants? Perhaps it might have been useful at Waco.
And after a few years, when DHS decides it needs a later and greater model, these will probably end up in the hands of your local PD or Sheriff's Dept. Now that's something we really would like to see coming down our streets. Don't forget to pay those parking tickets-you never know!
It's more militarization of our law enforcement, and will lead to more 'use' to justify keeping them…
ONE WORD-GASOLINE