KARK reports that the Batesville police department is spending $57,000 to arm the force with fully automatic rifles. From the report:

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“You’ve seen the school shootings, the college shootings. The city of Batesville felt our officers need to be prepared for that,” said Batesville Police Chief Alan Cockrill.

Authorities said the long range weapons are more affective than the gun on their hip.

“A lot of these guys, at 50 yards, are fairly accurate. But outside of that we can’t engage a target,” said Cockrill.

Officers will be issued a 30 round clip and a 20 round clip along with attachments like flashlights.

On social media some viewers already posted their concerns – including one who believes “It wouldn’t take long to see that ending badly,”

“Properly used and properly trained it’s a very intimidating weapon and a lot of times in a situation we are in intimidation works better than deadly force,” said Cockrill.

The photograph illustrates the weapon of choice as the Daniel Defense MK18.

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