SURPLUS WEAPONRY MERITS CLOSER LOOK

Local law enforcement agencies aren't about to look a gift gun in the
muzzle. Since 1994 police departments across the state -- large and
tiny -- have received more than a thousand surplus military weapons.
Unfortunately, scant attention has been given to mandatory training,
security or preventing illegal resale to civilians.

Surplus automatic rifles are just a small part of the weapons largesse
destined for local arsenals. Bayonets, mine detectors, trucks and even
leftover Humvees are in the pipeline, just for the asking.

With tight budgets, law enforcement officials make a valid case for
free phased-out military equipment. Using junked ordnance on the home
front beats shipping it abroad or dismantling it. But the program has
become too much of a good thing for some agencies.

Small-town departments that don't need such firepower routinely
requested and got too many weapons. At first there was no limit; then
the state revised rules granting one surplus rifle for every five
sworn officers. Now 73 agencies have more high-powered guns than
guidelines allow.

The state's Law Enforcement Support Services acknowledges inadequacies
in security and training regulations -- significant when fully
automatic M-16 rifles that fire 30 rounds in three seconds are
involved. Larger police agencies schedule training exercises and limit
weapons access; that's not always true at smaller departments that
benefit from the windfall. In one instance, M-14 rifles inadvertently
were traded on the civilian market for more practical shotguns.

At the very least, state safeguards should set standards for security
and training. Next, there must be guarantees that the high-powered
surplus weapons don't fall into the wrong hands.

Although federal arsenal handouts are there for the asking, police
departments should realistically consider needs. Do Greensboro police
really need 45 surplus bayonets to pry open doors and cut down
marijuana plants? And it's questionable if the Greensboro Alcohol
Beverage Control board's enforcement team came out ahead accepting a
non-running surplus Humvee as an "undercover" vehicle.

Also troubling is the ease with which two private policing businesses
got surplus items even though non-government entities supposedly can't
cash in on the giveaway. State oversight was sadly lacking.

That said, there's still justification for police agencies to accept
surplus military goods. Terrorist threats, confrontations with heavily
armed drug traffickers and equipping special response units warrant
continuing the program. The free gifts, however, should come at the
price of closer scrutiny and realistic need assessments.