Suspect caught with gun meant for military and law enforcement
ATLANTA - Authorities caught a suspect who was carrying a handgun meant only for military and law enforcement purposes.
The discovery is troubling because the standard officer service weapon, which is a semi-automatic is converted with a part to a near fully automatic firearm.
Semi-automatic is defined as one shot is fired after the trigger is pulled once.
Atlanta police made the stop and confiscation.
"That is our concern," says Vince Champion, "who represents Atlanta officers as well as those from other departments.
He says a local officer who encounters a criminal armed with the more lethal firearm, would not know by looking at the weapon from a distance.
He says what is not known is just how many of these may be on the street right now.
Champion says all eighteen rounds in the special military handgun can be fired within about three seconds. "What Atlanta currently carries cannot match that," Champion said.
The union director said he will notify all his members to assume that particular firearm could be the modified version.