Search Result: Backup Guns

At this year's SHOT Show, Ruger wowed the attendees when it unveiled one of the most radically new handguns that has been seen in decades, the Light Compact Revolver (LCR).

The latest Kahr model, the CW9, is an excellent example of a reliable, compact semi-auto, and it makes an excellent backup or off-duty weapon.

Life is full of compromises. This has been especially true for those that have faced the perplexing problem of selecting an off-duty, undercover, or backup gun.

Last June POLICE magazine published an editorial that asked readers to let us know if their agencies had policies that prohibited officers from carrying backup guns. We promised to contact these agencies and ask the reasons for the policies. Calls were made and the following is our agency-by-agency report.

One of the biggest problems with the concept of backup guns is that police administrators have a tendency to confuse backup guns with smaller, often less reliable "hideaway guns."

It's not hard to make a strong case for backup guns. The basic contention of backup gun proponents is that old saw that goes: If you absolutely have to have one of something to ensure your survival, then you better have two.

The possibility of being kidnapped was heavy on the minds of LAPD officers in the mid-1960s because of the kidnapping of their fellow Officers Bob Hettinger and Ian Campbell whose story inspired the book and movie, "The Onion Field."

If your department lets you carry a backup gun, and you don't have one, get one. If you have one and don't carry it because its uncomfortable or you just don't think you need it, then ask yourself, what will you do if some recently paroled pumped-up gorilla takes your sidearm away and tries to turn it on you?

Keep officer survival smart and simple.

The decision of whether or not to carry a backup gun, while a personal one in most cases, is just as obviously important in this and many other situations.

The NAA Guardian is a double-action-only semi-automatic with a fixed barrel fitted inside an open-topped slide. The gun resembles the Seecamp design that single-handedly popularized the pocket pistol so many years ago.

For many investigators their handgun is their primary weapon. Consequently, it must be the most effective tool they can have. Here are some thoughts on the selection process of both the handgun and the ever-important holster it's carried in.