We don't have to limit ourselves or submit to the restrictions that military command or law enforcement leadership impose upon their people!
The truth is that the Army went to the 5.56 because it has been proven in war that soldiers do not kill with aimed rifle fire! That is a very disturbing statement I know, but I am quoting Jeff Cooper.
The truth is that the 9mm Silvertip was NOT to blame for the deadliest day in FBI history!
The truth is that officers by qualifying once a year are going to the range more often than most of us in the 2A community!
Even those who go to the range do not work from the holster which is forbidden. Even those who do actually go more than occasionally, do not practice in any helpful, meaningful way. They stand there at the line pointing the gun at the target, waiting for the sights to settle down, slowly squeezing the trigger, waiting for the "surprise trigger break".
It is loopy.
Nuts.
Crazy! When are you ever going to be in a situation which calls for that?
Gotta go. Please correct me anyone with my thanks. I enjoyed this thread!
Kind Regards!
BrianD
I agree, people who are not sworn L/E in an agency that says you will carry X, have the ability to carry whatever they want. You want to carry a .25 Raven… [emoji106] You want to carry a 6” .44 629-1… [emoji106] Somewhere in the middle… [emoji106]
Across the board, I’ve always felt those who want to argue what someone PERSONALLY chooses to carry should realize that the person put their money down to carry X gun, and hopefully put the time/money in to train with it. If a commentator wants to talk trash, start sending that person a regular check, and then they can dictate what they carry. Shy of that, what does it matter to someone, likely in another state, who will likely never walk past the person?
But my context was not what a private person carries. Why would I comment about non-L/E carry after someone made the comment about “Blue Flu” in regard to agencies moving to 9mm? I’m in L/E, in an agency that switched from .40 to 9mm when I was finishing my post academy training. We didn’t have people quit due to it. Most liked the change, to include the “gun guys.” We had people give up their job for the COVID vaccine requirement, and even some who did not want to ask a foreign national if they were vaccinated. I have never heard anyone quit because we switched to 9mm…
Unless you are working in a higher crime area, chances that you even pull your gun are minimal. I had a very liberal officer retire a few years back, who said she never needed to… including her time as an MP (I forget if she was K9 at that time, being I really didn’t care to talk to her). Myself? In the past 5 years (my current agency)… 3 times.
-One was a kid that refused to follow instructions (primary officer instructed him to keep his hands on the wheel… kept going towards the center console and fidgeting), later finding out he was released from a hospital that noted he had ambitions for suicide by cop. We got him out of the car when I cleared the holster… cuffed, check for weapons and then figured it all out. Contacted local L/E, but he didn’t want any assistance and drove south on I-95.
-Another was a delusional guy (Canadian) who said he worked for the FBI and my officers needed to get out of his way or else… and I only pulled my gun because it was 0° and everyone else has tasers out (if it went from 0 to 60, no need to stow another taser and waste time when he was close enough in with coworkers that a knife would have been a bad day). The 8 red dots from the tasers got the point across… he was cuffed, found to be nuts (like walking in a snowstorm with no shoe laces because the hospital wouldn’t let him have them) and brought back over for Canada to deal with.
-Last one, a bank robbery me and another officer were the first on scene. Cleared the parking lot, posted up behind the car with eyes on the entrance… other officer got ahold of State Police, who said he left in a car. Got a thumbs up from the bank manager, then got in a chase to catch up to the car. Guy was tased by locals as we got to the car.
And that’s only calling out times with my pistol… I was checking cars with a M4 following that Niagara Falls car explosion (there was a few thoughts about it being terrorism) and then the days following the Lewiston, ME shooting (when we didn’t know he offed himself).
Most of our officers… if they had the option to not carry, I’d say 20% wouldn’t. Unfortunately, those people still A) need to carry a firearm and B) pass bi-annual qualifications. For the largest Federal L/E agency, it’s hard to put that much training to get those people to be trained to the point that if s*** happens, they default to something useful… not to mention, doing it across the board. Shooting 300 rounds a year (past few years, about 150 for a practice and two qual course… two times a year) does not build the fall back to your training when **** goes sideways. I personally have been overhauling our active shooter response plan… actually rewriting the entire thing… and some officers would scare me if they were my backup going into a school.
As mentioned… 9mm over .40 for agency issue is the best choice. Bullet technology has bridged the gap since the late 1980s so that the same hits with 9mm wouldn’t be non-fatal whereas a hit from a .40 would. Most officers don’t know the difference between our past two duty guns other than the old one (P2000 LEM in .40) kicked harder and had an obnoxiously long trigger pull and the new one (Glock 19 Gen 5 MOS) recoils less and has a short trigger pull. Unless you made officers carry .44 Magnums, I don’t see pushback in the “Blue Flu” realm.
Getting cops to qualify is like getting a five year-old to voluntarily go to the dentist. Doesn't happen. They kick and scream all the way.
Most cops aren't gun folk, same with most in the military.
I mean, did you read my post? Legitimately said as much in the last paragraph.
My only saving grace up here is that I’m in northern ME with a decent amount of local coworkers. People who hunt, been shooting since 10 years old… and have a big support of the 2nd Amendment. The ones from Miami, NYC, and other places that have a more liberal mindset… they tend to have the “can’t I just talk to the guy with the gun to defuse the situation” viewpoint. Unfortunately, that does get people killed in some situations.
