Saturday, 8 September 2007

APEC and weapons

Before I rode into town yesterday, junior asked me to get some photos of any snipers that I saw. He wanted to see some shots of cool weapons.

It just struck me that every copper that I saw yesterday (and I saw lots) was armed with nothing more than a Glock, a can of hairspray (or capsicum spray) and a batton.

I vividly remember flying out of Vienna airport back in 1991. The place was crawling with policemen carrying H&K submachine guns and wearing body armour. It left an indelible impression. I also spent a few nights in Istanbul, and noticed that whilst staggering back drunkenly from a bar, there was a soldier posted on every intersection with an SLR (or the H&K equivalent - I think. I was drunk.)

For an event that supposedly has such a 'heavy security presence', the police seem to be rather under-armed. Not an M16 or an H&K to be seen anywhere on the streets.

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