I’ll catch a lot of crap for this post but...it has to do with the militarization of the police forces. I remember when they gave the rookies semiauto S&W ‘s and one day at the range for quarterly qualification, we ran out to the targets and us old ‘wheel’ guys pulled our .357’s and shot two to three right in the X ring. These new kids pulled out their weapons and unleashed with 16 shots each, never putting a single shot in the ‘X’ but hitting the target every where else if they were lucky. I turned to the other old troops and said “There’s gonna be a lot of collateral damage to the citizens coming up”.
“I’ll catch a lot of crap for this post...”
Not from me. I totally support you!
- Megan
Good shooting, but history shows us very different results in major department.
LASD was one of the first to go to semi-autos ( S&W 39s if I recall), in the aftermath of several incidents where officers emptied their 357s with duty ammo at perps w/o hits, and resultant officer fatalities. Shots fired rate went don, hit percentage went up due to a thorough training program in the transition.
Time may have ruined those outcomes, and normalcy returned with poor training programs etc, but the wheel gun compared to the auto is an old tale that is irrelevant, espc. now that most departments carry safe action or DAO weapons...., like revolvers but smoother and lighter.
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I’ll catch a lot of crap for this post but...it has to do with the militarization of the police forces. I remember when they gave the rookies semiauto S&W ‘s and one day at the range for quarterly qualification, we ran out to the targets and us old ‘wheel’ guys pulled our .357’s and shot two to three right in the X ring. These new kids pulled out their weapons and unleashed with 16 shots each, never putting a single shot in the ‘X’ but hitting the target every where else if they were lucky. I turned to the other old troops and said “There’s gonna be a lot of collateral damage to the citizens coming up”
I’m an old vintage “revolver” cop from the 70’s and agree on the marksmanship. No Glocks then but shooting skills were not very good. I dont blame militarization. Vets are much more disciplined and discerning than the average civilian cop. Rather its the political leadership.