Massachusetts police agency obtained two grenade launchers through federal program

[eipstudios]

A typical police department requests rifles from the Department of Defense?s 1033 program, but for a Massachusetts agency, they picked out two ?Thumpers.?

The two M79 grenade launchers are tucked away, collecting dust, in a West Springfield police armory away from other weapons because they?re an obsolete fire hazard.

Even the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts pondered on Facebook why such an agency, which patrols a city of about 28,500 people, would need a military single-shot weapon that debuted during the Vietnam War.

The launchers were obtained in the late ?90s to prepare for school shootings through a federal excess program to transfer surplus military equipment to local law enforcement agencies, Massachusetts Live reported.

West Springfield picked up 7.62 mm rifles as well, just like dozens of agencies listed on an inventory of materials received by Massachusetts State Police, but the grenade launchers stand out. They?re the only two on the list.

?The bad guys have no rules,? former police chief Thomas Burke said in a 2009 interview. ?If we need them, we?ll use them.?

The weapons have never been used except by officers at their shooting range, Chief Ronald Campurciani told the newspaper.

?I cannot think of a scenario where we would employ those weapons,? Campurciani said.

They?re not the only agency with a grenade launcher. They?ve been documented as stockpiled among several agencies in Virginia and Utah.

In Georgia, Morven Police officials stashed a box of bayonets received through the 1033 program into storage because it didn?t know what to do with them. Other than weapons, the Department of Defense program is also responsible for handing out night-vision goggles, helmets, gas masks, boots and even inflatable boats for water rescues.

But grenade launchers are nothing compared to the 64 armored vehicles, 17 helicopters and 1,034 guns that were handed out to Arizona law enforcement agencies along the U.S. border over the past 25 years.

What appears to be an excessive arsenal is being cited as a new trend in American law enforcement that has become ?unnecessarily and dangerously militarized,? according to a report release by ACLU in June.

The launchers will likely stay locked up because when West Springfield officers brought the guns out for a test, they shot off target, he told the Massachusetts paper.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.1860467

[brassmonkey]

i want one

[Rochard]

Well the next time someone leaves their trash out the day after pick up might be interesting...

[WDF]

These shoot a variety of rounds, not just traditional fragmentation grenades.

There are a number of uses for them other then killing people or disabling vehicles.

Tear gas, flares, and smokers are just a few civilian uses for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M79_gre...her#Non-lethal

[AaronM]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

i want one

I hear they are illegal. Not sure if that's true or not....