Posted on 05/21/2016 8:23:42 AM PDT by Iron Munro
DADE CITY — There's an arms race taking place in law enforcement as weapons manufacturers battle each other for the lucrative right to arm officers.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office is the latest beneficiary of that duel.
Last year the agency said goodbye to its old .40-caliber Glock 23 handguns and recently finished equipping its deputies with .40-caliber SIG Sauer P320s. That's because sheriff's officials said SIG Sauer offered to replace their entire arsenal at no cost, sealing the deal.
That's a victory for the New Hampshire gun manufacturer over its Austrian rival Glock. Both are among the world's top producers of handguns, but Glock has been a major player in the law enforcement market, especially here in the Tampa Bay area.
Sheriff's officials said that on top of being free, the SIG Sauer pistols are safer. SIG Sauer gave the agency about 770 new handguns, which have a retail price of about $600 apiece.
Glock quoted the Sheriff's Office a range of $80,000 to $200,000 to upgrade the agency to new Glock 35s, officials said. If Glock had matched the SIG Sauer offer, sheriff's officials said, they probably would have stuck with Glock.
"That's a very fair assessment," Special Operations Capt. James Steffens said at a Friday news conference, where deputies showed off their new sidearms.
It makes sense why SIG Sauer would give away their product while Glock wouldn't, said Dennis Kenney, criminal justice professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. SIG Sauer could make more money later, if it can get more agencies to buy its firearms.
"The police market for handguns is pretty substantial," he said Friday. "And if (SIG) could point to some agencies that use their guns and like them, it's a good testimonial."
The decision to update Pasco's arsenal was made in 2013, said sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll, even though most of the agency's Glock handguns weren't very old. The last large gun purchase was only two years earlier, in 2011.
The SIG Sauer pistols offer a safety feature that the Glocks don't, but sheriff's officials said it played no role in their decision. They don't require pulling the trigger to disassemble for cleaning.
Both the subcompact Glock 23s that patrol deputies carried and the full-size Glock 35s that SWAT deputies used require pulling the trigger. If a round were accidentally left in the chamber, the result could be catastrophic.
Sheriff's officials said they didn't know how many times one of their deputies accidentally discharged an agency Glock while taking it apart.
Pasco deputies started carrying the new guns in November and the rollout finished in March. Even though they were free, the Sheriff's Office spent about $56,000 on upgraded sights that glow in the dark at night.
The decision by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office leaves one less major law enforcement customer for Glock in the Tampa Bay area. Last year, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office also moved away from Glock and adopted the FN FNS-9 pistol. The Tampa Police Department equips its officers with Smith & Wesson M&P40 handguns.
However, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has been using Glock 21s since 2004 and has no plans to switch, said Sgt. Spencer Gross. The St. Petersburg Police Department also uses Glock 21s.
Kenney said he understood why Glock didn't want to take a loss in trying to outbid SIG Sauer.
"I understand why Glock would say no," he said. "They're already established in the market and giving away weapons is probably not a good business decision. SIG less so."
Walk softly and carry a big Sig.
"Try it, you'll like it."
I’m taking the Sig over the Glock any day.
Collectively, we have six SigSauer pistols! They are without doubt, the best handguns we own, even the plastic ones!
Oh, great, my county deputies are morons?
There’s going to be a steep training curve, but the step up should more than pay for the training. This could definitely be a great national kick off for SIG.
It’s still a plastic gun.
Now if they were a p220, then we’re talking a real gun.
Now, if they would only use that firepower on drug dealing criminal biker gangs...
I don’t have a gun and can’t defend myself. All the folks who don’t like my commentary should look me up and beat me up. ;)
Why,yes as a matter of fact I do. Utterly reliable and accurate even after literally thousands of rounds.
Mo money, but a really nice piece. I won't knock Sigs, but I'll hang onto the few Glocks I have.
If someone would buy a new gun for me, I would pick a Sig P-220 in 10mm. A P-226 would be nice too.
If I had to buy it myself it would be a Glock model 20.
A lot of people have accidentally left a round in the chamber, but I'm not sure why you would want one of them as a cop. I clean guns often (almost daily), and I have never made that mistake. I don't even understand how someone being responsible could make that mistake.
I clean at a particular table. Step 1 is to unload the gun in the room where it is normally stored. The magazine (if any) is left there, and no ammo is ever present while I clean my guns. I cycle the action before leaving that room, and leave that round there as well. Then when I get to the table where I clean my guns, I check that it is empty and cycle the action again.
If a cop is so inept that he cannot clean a Glock safely, perhaps he should be an unarmed meter maid.
The same goes for my S-S P226 Elite, but I still wouldn’t trade my stainless Colt .38 Super as either one are great and accurate guns.
“That’s a victory for the New Hampshire gun manufacturer over its Austrian rival Glock. “
Got this far, then realized this was a spun story.
SIG Sauer is a Swiss company with an American subsidiary in NH.
Glock is an Australian company with an American subsidiary in GA.
As I understand, both make fine guns, but neither are true blue American companies.
Just purchased the Sig P226 Legion. A very nice firearm. The P326 is Sig’s entry into the MHS competition. I have shot it and liked it more than any other plastic gun I have shot.
Giggle snort. That would only be considered a safety feature to someone that knew nothing about guns.
Good grief! Have they gone back to be retrained?
Should read: Sheriff's officials said they didn't know how many times one of their deputies accidentally negligently discharged an agency Glock while taking it apart (after carelessly forgetting to clear the chamber).
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