by Chris and Sheree Geo
Today, Chris and Sheree called Law Enforcement Targets and asked them a few questions about the controversial “No Hesitation” paper targets depicting pregnant women and young children recently bought by “local law enforcement agencies”.
The spokesperson for the company declined to tell us exactly which “agencies” requested such a horrific object for “target practice”, but did admit that these were definitely for “domestic use” and that they were meant to “help police officers handle these kinds of situations.” Assuming that target practice is just that (practicing shooting people with the most accuracy), it is quite disturbing, to say the least, to see law enforcement agencies of any kind making shooting pregnant women and young children (rather than use other means of subduing the “hostile”, as they call them in the series) part of their job description.
After some grilling by Chris Geo, the spokesperson admitted that the backlash throughout the last several days has changed their tune considerably ; When asked if agencies could have these custom-made, he replied that although they do custom orders, he has doubts whether this particular set of targets would ever again be made. This is a good sign ; Maybe this is how we defeat the people who want to start a civil war in this country: We point out the dehumanizing, brute force of this machine, hold people accountable, and alert each other when these threats surface. They can’t fight all of us.
Company With Ties to the Federal Gov’t Designs Unsettling Targets for Law Enforcement Community
“What if I told you police in your town could desensitize themselves to the idea of shooting a (armed) child, pregnant woman, or young mother, for just a couple of bucks?” Reason’s Mike Riggs asks.
Sadly, Riggs isn’t simply being perverse. He’s being 100 percent serious:
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For less than 99 cents per target, police officers can now shoot at real-life images “designed to give [them] the experience of dealing with deadly force shooting scenarios with subjects that are not the norm during training,” according to Law Enforcement Targets, Inc.’s website.
The company calls it the “No More Hesitation” series:
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“Law Enforcement Targets, Inc. provides training targets and supplies for military branches, government agencies, law enforcement agencies, training organizations, private ranges, gun clubs, and shooting enthusiasts in the United States,” a Bloomberg profile on the group reads.
Shortly after contacting the company to find out more about the series, the marketing team at Law Enforcement Targets, Inc. sent Riggs the following statement:
The subjects in NMH targets were chosen in order to give officers the experience of dealing with deadly force shooting scenarios with subjects that are not the norm during training.
I found while speaking with officers and trainers in the law enforcement community that there is a hesitation on the part of cops when deadly force is required on subjects with atypical age, frailty or condition (one officer explaining that he enlarged photos of his own kids to use as targets so that he would not be caught off guard with such a drastically new experience while on duty). This hesitation time may be only seconds but that is not acceptable when officers are losing their lives in these same situations.
The goal of NMH is to break that stereotype on the range, regardless of how slim the chances are of encountering a real life scenario that involves a child, pregnant woman, etc. If that initial hesitation time can be cut down due to range experience, the officer and community are better served.
There are seven targets in the series: Pregnant Woman, Older Man 1, Older Man 2, Older Woman, Young Mother, Young Girl, and Little Brother.
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“Considering that the company has landed $5.5 million worth of contracts with the federal government,” Riggs notes, “it might also be interesting to know if these targets are being used by federal law enforcement agents.”
Law Enforcement Targets, Inc. could not immediately be reached by phone for comment. Also, as of 8:30 p.m. ET, it appears that their website is down.
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Company selling targets with images of Americans to DHS for firearms training (Photos)
- February 19, 2013
- By: Ryan Keller
- Examiner
Law Enforcement Targets, Inc., a company that sells law enforcement and federal agencies “realistic” paper targets for firearms training, is providing the Department of Homeland Security with images of “non-traditional threats.”
The people in these images are most likely Americans, with such images as “’pregnant woman threat,’ ‘older man with shotgun,’ ‘older man in home with shotgun,’ ‘older woman with gun,’ ‘young school aged girl,’ ‘young mother on playground,’ and ‘little boy with real gun,’” writes Paul Joseph Watson on Tuesday.
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It would appear as if this company is trying to help police and law enforcement prepare for fighting Americans. As Watson points out, there would have to be a demand among the agencies to which the company sells in order to put these products on the market.
Law Enforcement Target’s Web site declares that these targets are “designed to give officers the experience of dealing with deadly force shooting scenarios with subjects that are not the norm during training,” and are “meant to help the transition for officers who are faced with these highly unusual targets for the first time.”
The line of images is called “No More Hesitation,” implying that law enforcement shouldn’t hesitate to kill these people just because they’re Americans.
Speculation that the DHS is preparing for fighting within the United States has abounded for some time. Over the last year, the department has purchased nearly 2 billion rounds of hollow point ammunition of various calibers, enough to fight a 30 year war and shoot every American man, woman and child four times.
Along with the ammo, the agency has also purchased 7,000 fully automatic assault rifles.
The DHS has also issued various reports that describe people distrustful of government as potential terrorists and military veterans as threats to the country.