Search Result: Firearms Training

Can a gun that fires plastic BBs really serve as a viable training tool for law enforcement?

Old West sheriffs and marshals often carried a Colt .45 called the Peacemaker. But that .45 had the limitations of all handguns, so savvy Western lawmen also kept a short-barreled repeating rifle like a Winchester in their saddle bags. They knew that in a real gunfight, a carbine is the real “peace maker.”

In Norse mythology, Valhalla is a heaven where noble warriors spend their days training and fighting and in the evenings the sick and dead are magically cured in time for bountiful feasts.

The great Bill Jordan once said: "There is no second-place winner in a gunfight." Even if you take nothing else away from this article, I ask that you train to win any gunfight that you become involved in, not survive it, but win it.

Over the years different stances, or shooting platforms, have come and gone with various names attached to them.

For as long as most active SWAT operators have been police officers, there has been one gospel truth about SWAT sniper operations: the 70-Yard Rule. Ask any SWAT sniper what is the average range of a police sniper shooting, and he will answer, “About 70 yards.” Ask him the source of his data, and he will say, “FBI statistics.”

All holsters are not created equal. You know that. You also know that different types of holsters are designed to be used for different police applications. But what you may not know is how to evaluate holsters for quality, fit, retention, and general function.

A career in law enforcement on the warm and sunny island of Oahu may seem like a dream come true to most of the readers of POLICE. And after training with nearly 30 officers from the Honolulu Police Department, I can assure you that the reality is just as great as you imagine.

We all know that most police-involved shootings develop at a range of just a few feet. But there are exceptions. It’s not easy to hit a target in combat at long range with a pistol. But it can be done.

History has shown over and over again that merely shooting a set course of fire, or qualification course, will not truly prepare you for an armed confrontation. Yet, agencies continue to schedule officers for firearms qualification only three to four times a year. Is it any wonder why our hit ratio in gunfights hovers at 20 percent?

Of all training accidents, police officers shooting each other in simulation drills are the most tragic. They are also the most difficult for some officers and civilians to comprehend.

You don't like doing it, I don't like doing it…no one I know likes shooting with one hand. But quite often, how you shoot determines whether or not you go back to the street or end up in an office job riding a desk.