While watching Adam-12, as soon as the gun, be it the Model15 from the holster, or the shotgun from the cruiser , comes out, automatic finger inside the trigger guard. Drives me nuts(er)

I used to get frustrated at actors playing a guitar on screen and their left hand never moving.

It was the same with gun round counts and safety clicks.

I got over it.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

The scarier thing is when you realize it happens in real life too, not just on TV. I guarantee you a majority of negligent discharges are from this very thing.

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aka "Mooncat"

It could well be that was acceptable/how they were trained back in the day. At least one old hand/ex LEO has said here that he preferred his finger on the trigger when using a TDA semi-auto, and that's why he dislikes single-action/Glock type guns.

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Release the Kraken

"Trigger discipline" is a relatively new concept.

Here's an official US Military training video from the WWII timeframe as an example:

WW2 1911 .45 CAL Pistol Training - YouTube

As late as the 1980's cops actively trained with double-action revolvers and a method referred to as "staging the trigger", which amounts to pulling the trigger in DA mode until ready for the hammer to drop and holding it at that point, ready to fire with a finger action comparable to single-action use.

LAPD and California Highway Patrol used clamshell holsters that required the user to insert the trigger finger through the trigger guard to release the revolver from the holster, thus drawing the revolver with finger on the trigger.

In the Army, 1960's and 1970's, trigger finger inside the trigger guard was normal. When not engaging the trigger the finger was held forward against the front of the trigger guard (which was, coincidentally, where the safety release was located on the M14 and earlier M1 rifles, so the user was always aware of whether or not the safety was engaged).

It was not until the late 1980's and into the 1990's before the common practices of today came into common use (trigger finger never enters the trigger guard until ready to engage a target). The primary motivating factor was the large numbers of unintentional discharges that occurred when agencies changed over from DA revolvers to striker-fired semi-autos (like the Glocks). The same time period saw holsters with covered trigger guards become the norm, which were seldom seen in the prior years.

Much of what is considered to be carved-in-stone gospel-truth beyond any debate today just did not exist 30 years ago.

As for the TV series "Adam 12", the principal actors spent many months observing and riding with LAPD officers and participating in academy training programs so that their performances represented actual and accepted practices of the time period. I doubt they gave much thought to how people would perceive their actions in the 21st Century.

I see Barney Fife put a round into the floor or ceiling at least three time a week on TV. You'd think he would learn.

Here we go. What's worse, a Fudd or a Fife?

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Cling Peaches in Heavy Syrup

It's TV, very little to do with reality.

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No baby we aint

The times have certainly been a changin'.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

...is every single time I see a teevee LEO pointing a pistol at someone they are about to shoot their trigger finger is nowhere near the trigger.

Seems they take the advice to ‘keep your finger off the trigger til ready to shoot’ literally.

Be safe.

45 or 50 years ago you were trusted with your finger in the trigger guard........

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dd884
JMHO-YMMV

"It's TV, very little to do with reality"

Unfortunately,that's where "most people" learn what they know about gun handling.

I always liked in the old westerns when the shooter would ''whip'' his pistol while shooting.

on law & order, det fontana pulls his revolver and cocks the hammer! not sure where his finger is; they show the left side only.

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ask questions- then shoot!

I love a good car chase scene when the car is flying down the HWY 120 MPH and its in park. I just love that.

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Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.

They must whip it.

Whip it good.

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

Do you mean “fanning” the hammer of a single action revolver?

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

That's the way I look at it. Everything that has and does come out of Hollywood is fiction.

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Live long and prosper

I think whipping is when they bring the gun down from a vertical position, swinging their arm forwards and the gun fires as the arm goes straight.

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Release the Kraken

I think he’s talking about how most bring the pistol down rapidly from twelve o’clock and firing when the guns sight are more or less pointed at the target. Like cracking a whip.

Yep. What LVSteve said.

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Who are those guys?