The arms race continues...

It's not just New York's finest who'll be toting machine guns as they walk their turf:

Hundreds of officers will be issued AR-15 rifles starting this summer, and police say the guns will be a better match for criminals. Although Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier was unable to provide an example of when such firepower would have been needed in the recent past, she said police should not be caught off guard.

This ongoing militarization of our local police forces comes courtesy of... our military:

The city got the AR-15 rifles from the Department of Defense for free as military surplus items. Police are waiting for mounts so the weapons can be securely locked in police cruisers and slings for officers to carry them over the shoulders.

Doesn't anybody realize there's a reason police and soldiers are trained differently and are supposed to fill different roles? I guess not. My favorite line, though, is this one:

Assistant Police Chief Patrick Burke, who is in charge of special operations and homeland security, said protocols are being put in place to cover the use of the rifles and promised that officers will be "accountable for every shot."

You mean like the 50 shots these guys fired? (And they only had pistols!) Oh... that inspires a lot of confidence. The police state isn't coming. It's here. They outgun the citizenry, who are not permitted to defend themselves. They can remove your children without cause or charges. And yes, the checkpoints are in place. All we need now is the long-awaited national ID card, and the phrase "your papers, please," will no longer be a old German stereotype.

If we put half this amount of force and effort into defending our border, we wouldn't have an illegal immigration problem. The fact we'd rather use these methods and weapons in our cities, around our own citizens, tells you all you need to know about what time it is.