Los Angeles police chief wants ban on felons owning body armor

[forum_admin]

Los Angeles Chief of Police Charlie Beck urged California's Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal a court decision that overturned a state law preventing violent felons from owning body armor in a letter released on Thursday.

In this open letter sent to Brown, Beck warned that the decision would give criminals an upper hand. "The increasing number of assaults with deadly weapons against our frontline public safety defenders is a clear indication that we cannot give violent felons the upper hand," said the letter, "there is an absolute need for a ban on these types of body armor for anyone other than law enforcement personnel or law enforcement related personnel."

Last Thursday, a three-justice panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeals in Los Angeles overturned a state law that banned felons from owning body armor, saying the law was unconstitutional because the definition of body armor was too vague.

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