The Shootout Script
How North Hollywood Sold the AR-15
On February 28, 1997, Los Angeles turned into a live-action war zone. Two men in body armor stormed a Bank of America, and for 44 minutes the world watched a suburban street transform into a televised battlefield.
But was the North Hollywood Shootout just a botched robbery—or a made-for-TV pilot that helped rewrite American policing?
In this episode of The Hot Cut, we revisit the most televised bank robbery in U.S. history and follow the trail from spectacle to policy:
How LAPD patrol rifles became standard issue within months.
Why the media’s “armor-piercing ammo” narrative exaggerated the threat.
The gun shop feud behind B&B Sales, where cops borrowed rifles mid-battle.
And why the chaos looked less like a crime scene and more like choreography.
The future of policing wasn’t forged in a policy office. It was broadcast live.
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