11 Dallas police officers shot by sniper at peaceful protest. 5 officers dead.

[wwkayaker]

The AR-15 was no different to a hunting rifle aside from the magazine capacity and some of the accessories that can be bought. The AR-15 I shot had a red dot sight and a few other accessories that were over the line in my mind. I also shot a Glock which scared me. Now, some of the rifles/firearms I saw in use at the gun range were unsettling to me. I actually felt quite unsafe. Fwiw, I am not a gun proponent by any means. I am not arguing in favour of guns. I think a major issue is the size of the magazines and ability to rapid fire even though a gun is semi automatic.

Christ, cnn just stated that open carry in Texas only became legal in January. Talk about going in the wrong direction!

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by wittynickname

There has to be some kind of training involved. This isn't a drug dealer with a pistol that's angry at the police. This is a trained sniper picking people off from an elevated position.

Someone on another forum suggested ex-military, another suggested a Neo-Nazi attempting to increase racial tensions further. Any and all of these sound pretty feasible.

This isn't a random attack, this had to have some planning involved.

I had similar thoughts, partly because I watched "Welcome to Leith" last night. There are groups in America who would welcome a race war.

[Hockey_Ninja]

It really does feel like another civil war is upon us. Scary.

[peter12]

When I first saw the picture of the young man with the AR-15, my first thought was a) the gun wasn't loaded, and b) where was his ammunition? Thankfully, he had an intelligent, and articulate brother who was able to speak out on his behalf. Watching the clip of that young man really gave me hope.

There was a full on firefight going on. Hundreds of rounds being fired. Someone planned this.

Awful night for the Dallas Police. Thinking of all the grieving families. Unreal.

[JonDuke]

Prior to tonight, no Dallas police officer had been killed since 2009.
So messed up.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by wwkayaker

The AR-15 was no different to a hunting rifle aside from the magazine capacity and some of the accessories that can be bought. The AR-15 I shot had a red dot sight and a few other accessories that were over the line in my mind. I also shot a Glock which scared me. Now, some of the rifles/firearms I saw in use at the gun range were unsettling to me. I actually felt quite unsafe. Fwiw, I am not a gun proponent by any means. I am not arguing in favour of guns. I think a major issue is the size of the magazines and ability to rapid fire even though a gun is semi automatic.

Christ, cnn just stated that open carry in Texas only became legal in January. Talk about going in the wrong direction!

well, the AR-15 is the civilian version of the M-16... one of the performance criteria for the new weapon for the military was to penetrate body armor (legend has it, it was to pierce though a us army helmet at 500 yards)...

regardless, i am not sure why any civilian needs that kind of fire power? the extended clips makes it worse if you can fire as fast as you can squeeze the trigger...

anyways, the US system is pretty much broken and highly partisan to the point of toxicity... they couldn't even pass a damn bill to prevent people on the terrorism watch list from being able to buy guns post Orlando... if that isn't F'd up, i don't know what is...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...icle-1.2685810

(that's the NYC verson of the Calgary Sun btw, so not some liberal newspaper)

[activeStick]

This is tragic for these officers to be killed like this. Man, the US is so broken.

[ComixZone]

Sure looking forward to flying into Texas on Sunday morning.

[wwkayaker]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

well, the AR-15 is the civilian version of the M-16... one of the performance criteria for the new weapon for the military was to penetrate body armor (legend has it, it was to pierce though a us army helmet at 500 yards)...

regardless, i am not sure why any civilian needs that kind of fire power? the extended clips makes it worse if you can fire as fast as you can squeeze the trigger...

anyways, the US system is pretty much broken and highly partisan to the point of toxicity... they couldn't even pass a damn bill to prevent people on the terrorism watch list from being able to buy guns post Orlando... if that isn't F'd up, i don't know what is...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...icle-1.2685810

(that's the NYC verson of the Calgary Sun btw, so not some liberal newspaper)

My knowledge of rifles is quite limited. I agree with you on all points. The firepower civilians have access to is absurd. I don't understand how the politicians can't get past the NRA nonsense and better protect its citizens.

The police chief said they have a woman in custody.

[Acey]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

Sure looking forward to flying into Texas on Sunday morning.

Don't go to a BLM protest and I think you'll be fine.

[wwkayaker]

I tuned in to Fox News out of curiosity. They were covering a BLM peaceful protest in Seattle. Lots of police present. I can only imagine the anxiety the officers might experience knowing what happened in Texas.

[Minnie]

Pretty bad when a joke article by The Beaverton this morning sort of makes a lot of sense because of the entire bat#### crazy kind of day this has been and how much that bsc is only going to escalate even more now.

[calgarygeologist]

Really interesting news in the most recent police press conference. The police are still in a gun battle with a suspect and are in negotiations with that person. It sounds like the gun man is heavily armed and probably armored. The suspect also told police that many more will die and that they have bombs everywhere.

What an intense situation.

[Flash Walken]

Like something out of HEAT

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by wwkayaker

My knowledge of rifles is quite limited. I agree with you on all points. The firepower civilians have access to is absurd. I don't understand how the politicians can't get past the NRA nonsense and better protect its citizens.

The police chief said they have a woman in custody.

the funny thing is, you can own an AR-15 as a canadian. However, it is a restricted weapon...so my understanding is that the actual application for restricted gun permit is more onerous, but also I don't think you are allowed to take the gun off the gun range...ie, you would need another permit to actually use it hunting...

the gun culture in canada is much, much different... i believe most people are pretty much in favor of gun control, with the exception of hunting rifles etc... everyone i know is pretty much in favor of gun control.

[wwkayaker]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Really interesting news in the most recent police press conference. The police are still in a gun battle with a suspect and are in negotiations with that person. It sounds like the gun man is heavily armed and probably armored. The suspect also told police that many more will die and that they have bombs everywhere.

What an intense situation.

I listened to the chief as well. Absolutely an intense situation and I commend the chief and mayor for their composure.

[Caged Great]

The thing I am wondering is when the desire to repeal the 2nd amendment entirely will gain steam.

This is ridiculous. It feels like only a couple days go by before the next major gun incident occurs.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by wwkayaker

I listened to the chief as well. Absolutely an intense situation and I commend the chief and mayor for their composure.

It was extremely chilling when you think about everything that was said. At the very beginning they commented that after the conference they had to go and determine what their plan of action would be. Then they provided the details. It sounds like they don't know whether or not to storm the gun man or how to take him out.

Early on I figured this was a spontaneous event but obviously this was well orchestrated.

[wwkayaker]

It is with disbelief that I watch gun violence continue while the politicians act like children. Sadly, the next shooting event likely isn't a month away. The whole idea of it being an amendment suggests that the powers that be would take steps to once again amend the constitution to protect the people. I remember the little blond haired girl in sandy hook who was killed. I was certain that event would create change. I honestly don't know if the USA will enact change.

[wwkayaker]

I feel for Obama as well. He will have to do a media event tomorrow to talk about this shooting. How many shootings has he had to speak about during his tenure? I believe if he had his choice, gun control would have been enacted years ago. Congress is such a failure.