Boston's mayor-elect has shot down a plan to arm some police officers with AR-15 rifles.
Martin J. Walsh's spokeswoman Kathryn Norton said in a statement that he is opposed to the use of the rifles by police, according to The Boston Herald.
Police department officials have cited a need for the high-powered weapons following recent school shootings and the marathon bombings.
The department is seeking funds for 33 AR-15 at the cost of $2,500 each, with plans to put the rifles in the cruisers of two specially trained beat cops in each of the city’s 11 districts.
Boston Police Spokesman Sgt. Mike McCarthy told the newspaper that the plan to buy the guns and arm officers was in the works before the marathon bombings and was motivated by a nationwide surge in massacres such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn.
He added that the use of the weapons would be strictly regulated and would not be used during routine patrol.
Approved uses could include active-shooter incidents, firing on a suspect from a distance and confronting a suspect wearing body armor.
