Joe Arpaio Issues AR-15 Assault Rifles To His Deputies, Must Carry Them 24/7

Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County Sheriff, is fighting back against violent criminals who are arming themselves with the latest high powered weapons.

And he’s doing this in the non-politically correct way, which has characterized so many of his past utterances and actions.

He’s arming his deputies with AR-15 style assault rifles, and he’s ordering them to protect themselves even when they’re not on shift.

Arpaio says the rifles will guarantee that his officers are safe even when faced with increasingly and more powerful weapons in the hands of criminals.

He insists that his patrol deputies must carry a firearm with them at all times.

He said, “My deputies will carry guns 24 hours a day, even off duty. If they see any incident occurring, they will take action anywhere in this valley.”

He continued, “We live in a violent society, even here in Maricopa County, and across our nation, and the least we can do is to arm our deputies, let’s say with enough firepower to fight back.”

The announcement comes on the same day a Sheriff’s office employee, Jorge Vargas, was shot and killed outside of his home.

He said, “The police department, Phoenix is investigating this incident, assisted by our office.”

Joe Arpaio says he bought the 400 Smith & Wesson rifles with money seized during arrests