State troopers to begin carrying assault rifles

The THP is buying 1,000 of the weapons to give troopers “the ability, if they have to, to resort to deadly means of force that is also an accurate means of force,” Lt. Rex Prince, supervisor of the organization’s ordnance division, said Friday.

The weapons were purchased with proceeds of property and money that troopers seized as ill-gotten gains from criminal activity. THP spokeswoman Beth Denton said she did not know how much the they cost, but weapons similar to those purchased retail at $1,080 each, according to the Bushmaster Web site.

Currently, THP officers are issued Glock .357-caliber Magnum handguns. They also carry a “back-up” handgun, and a Remington 870 12-gauge shotgun in each patrol car, officials said.

Denton said Tennessee Highway Patrol officials had been mulling over the decision to purchase the new weapons for a number of years.

While state troopers are primarily responsible for enforcing laws and investigating accidents on Tennessee’s highways, they sometimes are involved in dangerous situations, officials said.

“There are instances where we are called in as backup to support local agencies,” Denton said.

About 97 officers from the THP’s Chattanooga district were trained to use the weapons last week, while all officers should receive instruction by mid-June, Prince said.

“There are just so many scenarios in which officers could use these weapons,” he said. “One thing that woke us up was the bank robbery in (Los Angeles) in which two assailants were armed with AK-47s.”

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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com