There Were Two Rocket Launchers Turned in at LA's Gun Buyback Program – Politics – The Atlantic Wire
The final numbers from the massively successful one-day gun buyback in Los Angeles have arrived: 2,037 firearms, including 75 assault weapons and two anti-tank rocket launchers were traded in for supermarket gift cards — no questions asked. But … but … we have so many questions. The first being, who in Los Angeles had military-grade rocket launchers in their house(s)?
via There Were Two Rocket Launchers Turned in at LA's Gun Buyback Program – Politics – The Atlantic Wire.
OMG!! Panic!
Really? LAPD goes through a buy-back program from time to time, and something like this usually happens.
That's an AT-4 (M136). Here's the thing, once the round has been fired from an AT-4, it's just a fiberglass tube. It has no military value. The only way you could hurt someone with it would be to bludgeon them about the head and shoulders.
Expended AT-4s were common training aids in most units, and unlike real weapons (like bayonets) didn't need to be locked up or accounted for. They were just there.
And the LAPD surely has enough veterans to recognize that these empty tubes pose absolutely no threat to anyone. So I can only surmise they are prominently displaying them in a scurrilous effort to create fear among the public about scary assault weapons.
Author XBradTC2Posted on December 28, 2012 Categories ARMY TRAINING
6 thoughts on "There Were Two Rocket Launchers Turned in at LA's Gun Buyback Program – Politics – The Atlantic Wire"
Jeff Gauch says:
Ok, so the odds vastly favor this being an expended tube, and I doubt Officer Chuckles would be waving it around one handed if it had a live rocket in it, but are there visual cues that this has been fired? Something we could use to tell if one of these sitting on a table was a interesting piece of memorabilia or a vital part in somebody's Really Bad Day?
Unexpended AT-4s have rubber seals on both ends of the tube to keep moisture, dirt, etc, out. No seals, no rocket.
There is a subcaliber trainer version that has basically a single shot 9mm assembly in the rear of the tube, and it is difficult to immediately visually discern it from an expended tube, but this ain't one of 'em. The subcaliber trainer is kinda fun to shoot, since the long empty tube acts pretty much like a suppressor, so instead of a 9mm "bang!" you get a nice deep "thoonk!"
Quartermaster says:
Jeff, just the way he's handling the thing indicates it's been expended. If you could look at it, I'd bet a dollar to 10 donuts it's an empty tube. My Army National Guard Units had expended Law and Dragon launchers and they were just empty tubes. They were petty light once the rocket was gone, but were useful as training devices. That's why units kept them around. That's also what the idiot in the pic has.
BY buying that thing "back" they demonstrated abysmal ignorance of weapons. Unfortunately, that's all to common among big city Police force "leadership."
Heh. Facebook just popped up another picture of Officer Chuckles brandishing one of the tubes (one handed, of course) where you can clearly see "trainer" stenciled on it. Something tells me this guy isn't going to be joining Mensa any time soon.
When I was in Germany a few years back, the Bn CDR's driver had an expended LAW rocket tube in his trunk and got searched at the gate. Of course the rent-a-cop at the gate got all spun up and called EOD about it. Eventually much ado about nothing, but not until it played out to the bitter end.
scottthebadger says:
Since we discussing weapons, I saw The Hobbit Thursady night. I have two thoughts to pass on:
1) Why did the dragon, a flying threat manage to take over the dwarf kingdom, when one of the dwarves was named Bofors?
2) Did anyone else think the Goblin King looks like Micheal Moore?
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