Toomey to Obama: Scrap police weapons ban

Sen. Pat Toomey has taken his defense of police to the White House.

After delivering an unannounced, pro-police speech on the Senate floor two weeks ago, the Pennsylvania Republican on Thursday sent a letter to President Obama calling for an end to the newly announced ban on transferring military-grade weapons to local police departments - and saying that the task force which recommended the change had made "insulting" assumptions about police.

"I am deeply concerned," Toomey wrote, that the task force has "bought into a false narrative about law enforcement - one that paints America's police officers as the cause of unrest and violence, as opposed to the brave defense against it."

The stance comes in the midst of a debate about community policing that has rippled from Ferguson, Mo., to Baltimore - and as Toomey gears up for a closely watched reelection race next year.

It also prompted a quick response from the campaign of one Democrat who wants to unseat him, former Rep. Joe Sestak. In a statement, Sestak spokeswoman Danielle Lynch called Toomey's letter "politically expedient."

When he won his seat in 2010, Toomey earned the support of several police unions. And last year, the Allentown businessman teamed with police groups to successfully oppose Obama's nomination of a new head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

That nominee, Debo Adegbile, had worked with a group that assisted on appeals for convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Thursday's letter focused on a policy announced by Obama in Camden this week that prohibits the Department of Defense from sending unused weapons - such as grenade launchers and other high-caliber firearms - to local police departments.

While acknowledging weapons such as bayonets "are never appropriate" for domestic policing, Toomey said that other tools, such as riot gear or armored vehicles, can be useful to local law enforcement, particularly in the face of violent incidents like riots last month in Baltimore after the death of a man in police custody.

"We in the federal government should be supporting [police]," Toomey wrote, "not hindering them with undue red tape."

That sentiment echoed Toomey's speech on the Senate floor two weeks ago, when he said that "the overwhelming majority of police are honest men and women" and lamented the violence officers had faced across the country in recent months.

The White House responded to Toomey's letter by pointing to Obama's speech Monday, when he said the weapons were not appropriate for local officers.

"It can alienate and intimidate local residents and send the wrong message," he said.