New AR-15s give state police needed firepower: Assault weapons replace 9mm rifles that nobody believed in

[I'm a little surprised Maine troopers didn't already have the AR-15 given the kind of firepower criminals tend to pack. I hope these weapons cause people in a faceoff with troopers to simply give up and take the consequences of whatever it was that caused the troopers to be called in the first place. The AR-15 is an effective weapon in the hands of a trained police officer. By the way, a derivative of the AR-15 is the M-16 used by the U.S. military. -- KM]

Maine State Police troopers will be issued 105 new assault weapons that are much more powerful than the rifles they have been using.

The Legislature approved the purchase of the AR-15 assault rifles, manufactured by Bushmaster at the company's plant in Windham. The new weapons cost a total of $76,191.

Why the need for greater firepower? Mike Edes, president of the Maine State Troopers Association, said “almost nobody” in the department has confidence in their Ruger carbine rifles, the 9 mm weapons that the AR-15s are replacing.

“My analogy is this: I’m a deer hunter. I would not go hunting with a 9mm for deer,” Edes said. “So why would I want to be protected against a person that has another firearm, and wants to kill me and is coming after me, and rely on a gun I wouldn’t even go deer hunting with?”

The guns are being paid for with a combination of drug enforcement money and state funds, said Rep. Paulette Beaudoin, D-Biddeford.

Click on the lick for the rest of this story by Meredith Goad in today’s Portland Press Herald.

And here is a link to the Bangor Daily News version of the story, which seems to be better written. Here is the link to “State police to receive new AR-15 assault rifles”  | Bangor Daily News