The Walther P22, one of two weapons used in the shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Once a rarity on campuses, semi-automatic rifles are becoming a standard part of the arsenal for college police forces – firepower they say could make a difference the next time a gunman goes on a rampage.

The weapons are rarely seen in public and often stashed away in cruisers or at department headquarters, and many schools won’t talk about them. But federal data and Associated Press interviews and requests for records reveal that over the past decade, at least 100 U.S. college police agencies, and probably many more, have introduced rifles or acquired more of them.

…In the nine years since Virginia Tech, more carnage has followed: Six dead at Northern Illinois University. Seven more at California’s Oikos University. Ten dead last year at Umpqua Community College in Oregon.

Read the whole story at The Albuquerque Journal.

By: Contributing Author

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