>> "...dangerous wild animals to deal with..." I come from one of the wildest remaining areas in the lower 48, with a correspondingly high density of charismat

>> "...dangerous wild animals to deal with..." I come from one of the wildest remaining areas in the lower 48, with a correspondingly high density of charismatic megafauna and apex predators. On exactly zero occasions have I ever witnessed the police or sheriff's deputies interacting with wildlife. There are specialized (and very heavily armed) government divisions for that sort of thing, and the vanilla police would spark a turf conflict by stepping in. For example, it is common to see Fish and Wildlife department employees tranquilize and cage a grizzly bear in someone's yard, or to find the Animal Control division running a family of moose out of town, or to see NPS Rangers on horseback herd wild bison. I have even seen crews of municipal snipers deployed to reduce mule deer populations in town. No sane person would deny very heavy weapons to the men who come face to face with grizzly bears in their daily life. Similarly, the deer sharpshooters should undoubtedly have long and powerful rifles with fancy optics. But that is certainly not an argument for supporting the militarization and firepower expansion of the ordinary police.