The Importance of Continued Firearms Education
Who is the firearms expert in your department? If you’re on a big agency, then there are likely many of them regularly working at your firearms range. If your agency is small, it might just be the person who has been hunting long enough or enjoys firearms the most. Whether that responsibility falls on you or not, it’s important for you as a law enforcement officer to stay as informed about firearms as possible. Your firearms education—from learning about developments in related firearms technology to evaluating what your agency is carrying and authorizing—should never stop.
I have never understood officers who acquired only minimal knowledge about their weapons and nothing more. What about the plethora of weapons the bad guys might bring against you? What about the two dozen holsters you have to choose from for off-duty carry? What about the ammo selection, optics, cleaning tools, etc.? Your agency may not change weapons often, but that should be a conscious and purposeful decision made annually.
During the course of my career, which spans more than 35 years now, I’ve carried everything from a six inch .357 Magnum revolver to the Glock Model 43 9mm (my current off-duty weapon). In patrol cars I’ve seen shotguns, pistol caliber long guns, patrol rifles, extra handguns, 37mm munition launchers and more. Interestingly, what law enforcement agencies issue or authorize for carry often trends after changes in military weapon selection. This wasn’t as quick to happen at one time. The U.S. Army switched to the Government Model 1911 .45ACP semi-automatic pistol beginning in 1911. Most law enforcement agencies in the U.S. didn’t switch away from revolvers until the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s. Then, many didn’t make the switch until the Army selected the Beretta M9 9mm in 1985.
When we look back at the last 35 to 40 years in law enforcement-issued sidearms, we can clearly see evolution and change that’s accelerating—from the Beretta 92FS to the Glock 17 to the S&W 4006 and the SIG P320; from .38 Special to 9mm to .40S&W to 10mm, .45ACP, .45GAP, .357Sig and more; from four inch barreled revolvers (or two or six inch) to single stack or double stack magazines for semi-autos; from steel frames to aluminum frames to other alloys and polymers—the bits and pieces of the issued handgun puzzle have changed shape and form quite a bit.
On top of that, crime and criminals keep evolving as well, demanding that we constantly adapt to keep up. As a result, we have patrol rifles, shotguns, handguns, backup guns, off-duty guns, and more accessories than ever before. Sights and optics are always changing while new holsters come on the market every year.
To that end, welcome to the 2019 Firearms & Accessories Supplement from Officer.com, Law Enforcement Technology and Law Enforcement Product News. To be complete, this could be 500 pages and would probably still leave something important out. After you’ve read through this, feel free to email comments, questions and suggestions for next year’s supplement.
Stay safe.
Lt. Frank Borelli
Serving since 1982
Lt. Frank Borelli (ret), Editorial Director | Editorial Director
Lt. Frank Borelli is the Editorial Director for the Officer Media Group. Frank brings 20+ years of writing and editing experience in addition to 40 years of law enforcement operations, administration and training experience to the team.
Frank has had numerous books published which are available on Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and other major retail outlets.
If you have any comments or questions, you can contact him via email at [email protected].
