Obama Places Limits on Military Weapons for Police

President Barack Obama is banning the federal government from providing some types of military-style equipment to local police.

Last year, critics argued that police in Ferguson, Missouri, sent a message of escalation when they used armored vehicles during racially charged protests.

"We've seen how militarized gear can sometimes give people a feeling like there's an occupying force, as opposed to a force that's part of the community, that's protecting them and serving them," Obama said Monday, nine months after the Ferguson outcry.

The president said equipment made for the battlefield should not be a tool of American criminal justice.

His move will block the transfer of equipment like grenade launchers, tracked armored vehicles, weaponized aircraft and vehicles, and firearms and ammunition of .50-caliber or higher.

Earlier this year, CBN News provided an extensive report about concerns over police militarization. Click here to see that report.

Programs that transfer surplus military-style equipment from the Pentagon and other federal agencies have been around for decades. But Congress increased spending to help departments acquire the gear in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks.

The president ordered a review of the programs that provide the equipment in the wake of the Ferguson riots.

"There is a big difference between our military and our local law enforcement and we don't want those lines blurred," Obama said in August.