The terrorists might come by boat, perhaps into Minnesota

[Rach3]

The U.S. coast guard is attempting to justify sending machine guns to patrol the Great Lakes, in response to the endemic terrorism in that region:

But the United States Coast Guard has a new mission for the waters off of these quiet shores. For the first time, Coast Guard officials want to mount machine guns routinely on their cutters and small boats here and around all five of the Great Lakes as part of a program addressing the threats of terrorism after Sept. 11.
...
Despite complaints from some charter boat captains, environmental groups and city leaders around the Great Lakes, the Coast Guard defended the need to mount M-240B machine guns on its boats and to test fire them two or three times a year in “safety zones,” about 70 square miles each.

“The Coast Guard has looked at an increased terrorist threat since 2001,” Rear Adm. John E. Crowley Jr., commander of the Coast Guard district that oversees the Great Lakes, said in a telephone interview. “I don’t know when or if something might happen on the Great Lakes, but I don’t want to learn the hard way.”

(NYT)

One might suggest northern Minnesota is an odd place to spend federal anti-terrorism money...

 

[Astronuc]

Well, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld might have to invade and secure Canada. They have oil too, so they could use the oil/gas revenues to reimburse the US for the trouble of invading them.

 

[Gokul43201]

What does the Dept. of the Interior have to say about this? Oh, wait...nevermind; I can guess!

 

[BobG]

The U.S. coast guard is attempting to justify sending machine guns to patrol the Great Lakes, in response to the endemic terrorism in that region:

(NYT)

One might suggest northern Minnesota is an odd place to spend federal anti-terrorism money...

Why is that so odd? That's where Lake Woebegone is. The place where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

 

[russ_watters]

I'm not seeing what the problem is here. Terrorist threat or not, the Coast Guard needs to train and training involves shooting guns. I don't think it is too much to ask that someone who is required to know how to fire a gun be allowed to fire it two or three times a year.

The story reeks of hippiism. They make negative insinuations about the change being made in secret when the reality is probably that no one considered that this would be a big deal, so they didn't go out of their way to pubilcize it. And besides safety - which isn't any more of a concern here than elsewhere where the military fires weapons (ie, virtually nonexistant) - one of the major objections is environmental, which is equally absurd.

Besides, I think you (or the NYT) may misunderstand: these boats/ships all have machine guns on them already. They aren't typically kept permanently mounted on the deck - that'd be bad for the guns. They are kept in storage lockers until needed.

 

[Skyhunter]

I agree with the locals.

Carole Loftis, the owner of Snug Harbor, a popular restaurant with windows on the water, said that although she certainly carried concerns, like most Americans, about terrorism, drunken boating seemed a more frequent threat around here. “This seems a little like overkill,” Ms. Loftis said of the shooting plans.

The story reeks of hippiism.

I this a hippie on a need to know basis?

“When I heard, I thought it was something from The Onion newspaper or an Internet hoax,” said Mike Bradley, the mayor of Sarnia, Ontario, which sits beside Lake Huron, where 6 of the 34 live fire zones are planned. “This whole thing was done way below the radar.”

How did all these hippies get elected?

Herb Bergson, the mayor of Duluth, got a telephone call in September from a resident who said she was listening to her marine scanner, heard talk of shooting on Lake Superior and wanted the mayor to explain what was going on.

“I didn’t know what to tell her,” Mr. Bergson said. “I was caught just flat-footed. No one told me, and they should have.”

I think this is legitimate in light of the circumstances existing in the world today. That said, I am in favor of widely publicizing live fire exercises!

 

[ptabor]

Well, Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld might have to invade and secure Canada. They have oil too, so they could use the oil/gas revenues to reimburse the US for the trouble of invading them.

you know... if you stand on the Canadian border at night you can hear them sharpening their axes...

INVADE! THE CANADIAN TERRORIST REGIME MUST BE REMOVED AT ONCE!