A Question Of Power

Interesting news from Montgomery, Ala. Police there announced on January 28 that the department is going to equip each of its patrol cars with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle (what I often refer to as competition rifles, because of their proliferation at civilian shooting matches all over the U.S. pretty much every weekend).

So here's my question . . . for decades, police departments around the United States specifically have restricted shotguns to cruisers driven by sergeants or officers of higher rank. Why? Because they were inherently deemed to be a far more dangerous firearm.

Yet, here is a department that plans to distribute a semi-auto rifle to every patrol car in the city. Apparently the powers that be in Alabama feel the semi-automatic rifle is not as dangerous as a shotgun.

So if it is not as dangerous as a shotgun, why do so many politicians and police unions continue to support legislation to ban the competition rifle (aka the Scary Black Rifle)? Am I missing something?