Armies among us

Dear Terrel Harris: Can I just ask you one question? When did I move to Waziristan? I mean, it’s got to be rough out there. Criminals, hiding behind every rock and tree and weather-beaten antique shoppe. Terrorists, lurking around the “reserved” aisles at our college libraries. It was left to you, as a spokesman for the state’s Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, to explain why local police departments have been acquiring surplus military weapons in order to augment their arsenals under a state program that was recently suspended. Some of the stuff was truly startling. The school police at Bridgewater State College apparently needed six M-16s. What’s going on at that place? I’d hate to be the sockless sophomore who lights off a firecracker in the wrong commode at the wrong time. The town of Marblehead received eight M-16s. I wouldn’t advise Newburyport to try to invade. But the fighting there can’t be as savage as it apparently once was in West Springfield, where the police apparently determined the need for not one but two grenade launchers. Now, these have largely been mothballed but, then again, you can never tell about those crowds at Six Flags. I know, I know -- in all these communities, this is all about contingency planning, etc. I agree. In fact, I’m all for mooring a surplus guided-missile cruiser along the banks of the Housatonic and showing folks who’s boss.