Can you guys help me out? Request info/policies/lesson plans for MRDS/Pistols.

[lwt16]

Metro agency.....400+ sworn.

Alterations of any type prohibited (unofficial policy) to city issued sidearm. Written policy only covers grips and is based off the sidearm we carried over a decade ago.

To say that the policy makers are extremely uneducated about firearms and shooting in general is a titanic understatement.

I've been shooting since 1975 or so. Plinking, small competitions, rifles, shotguns, revolvers and pistols. Really no telling how many rounds fired.

As I near the 50 year mark, I have noticed a HUGE change in my vision up close/arm's length. Dollar store reading glasses are my best buddy......for reading, cooking....working on things. If I get good sleep and the lighting is great, I don't need them and can see the little day/date window on my Seiko divers with ease.

Standing in the shade....not so much and I have to rely on my Walmart tinted safety glasses with the readers built in.

We just transitioned to Glock 17 for duty and at the qualification, my first 50 rounds was subpar....all the range instructors asked me what the heck as I hold the Distinguished pin and won my academy firearms trophy.

"Hang on, I'll be right back."

Went to my car and got my cheap pair of readers. It was still dark as we started at 0600 and when I put the readers on, my sights were suddenly sharp as a tack and the Q target was fuzzy......not the other way around which is the suck for accuracy.

Groups were then palm sized at the 25 yard line.

My agency doesn't care that as I age my ability to see those sights, particularly that front sight, is waning. If I can bust out at least an 80 on the qual, that's all they care about. I've shot perfect quals 18/20 years with the other 2 years being 98s.

For my duty weapon, the biggest help would be a Hackathorn style orange front sight. I can pick up that sight very fast at combat distances with my aging eyes. The second biggest help would be Talon grips. I have my personal G17 set up that way and can rock and roll but alas our duty weapons still have that "new car smell" and I'm not going to alter it at this point. I am planning a letter via chain of command soon to address this. If it makes it to the Chief's desk and doesn't get trash canned enroute, I feel I have a good chance of approval.

My agency wouldn't even know what MRDS stands for. They did talk of letting SWAT have the new G17 with the milled slide for a sight but that fell through. They also talked of issuing G19s to plain clothes but that also fell through.

We can't even put an optic on a patrol rifle......nor can we put a tritium post on an AR per policy. See....we qual in the daytime and never night shoot so nobody really understands that most of our OIS incidents don't happen in perfect lighting. When we got authorized to carry weapon lights on our pistols, the live fire part of the training class was 50 rounds.......shot at noon.

Hope this helps.