RCMP beefs up Hill security

Anyone foolish enough to attack the seat of Canada’s government may soon be met with machine gun fire. RCMP officers charged with patrolling Parliament Hill will be equipped with Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine-guns over the coming months, which "should level the tactical playing field for our members," says RCMP assistant commissioner Pat McDonell. The move to beefier firepower, even though the submachine-guns will be a "secondary" weapon in the Mounties’ arsenal, reverses the changes put in place in the 1990s, when the RCMP took the MP5s out of officers hands as a result of the transition toward 9-mm pistols. But Liberal Senator Colin Kenny says it’s a necessary change if officers are to stop a coordinated attack: "Bluntly put, it is hard as hell to hit someone with a handgun."

Toronto Star