You took the words out of my mouth.Originally Posted by AMC
You took the words out of my mouth.
Formerly known as xpd54.
The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.
www.gunsnobbery.wordpress.com
If I issued someone a new gun, we were going to the range that day. If I did any repairs or replaced any parts, I test fired it before returning it. Spares on hand for temporary replacements were used pistols that I knew worked and would have been willing to carry myself. I’ve been retired a couple years now. My nephew is now the armorer, I suppose I should have a chat with him.
Bob, as well as anyone else with this practice...
...do you guys have an open range at work that you can just walk onto at any point? In the DC area we have our own range, but it's pretty busy so we rent extra range space at FLETC Cheltenham, as well, where we are basically full time "tenants" with a dedicated full time crew just to run our operations there. We simply don't have the range capacity that we could do this. Outside of DC, our field offices have to rent range time at various public and police ranges, so they really don't have the capability.
"Are you ready? Okay. Let's roll."- Last words of Todd Beamer
We don’t have our own range locally, we either use the USAF ranges at the Lackland Training annex, rent from local LE or we have a private gun club which allows LE to shoot free during the week. The catch being they are over an hour / 75 miles away. Between these options we make it work, even if it means test/fam fire during the lunch break of whom ever has the range for the day.
For a long time, we were a strictly gun issuing agency. They would all get replaced at once (and during a scheduled range week). This would ensure maybe 300 rounds went through them. I have been here for one full department transition and this was how it went.
We started allowing personally owned guns to bootstrap our optics program a couple years ago. Everybody going to optics shoots an 800ish round transition class.
Everybody on department issued guns was transitioned to new guns last Fall, which was again conducted during normal department range days.
I suppose theoretically somebody could buy their own iron sight again, get it inspected and approved to carry, and go get an instructor to qualify them and start carrying it with minimal round count. The same would be true for somebody who has done our optics class switching optics guns.
It's an interesting thought that I hadn't really considered. Most of the "gun guys" are going to shoot their new gun enough to vet it. Most of the non gun people aren't going to switch.
I think the thought here is more oriented to issuing “spare” guns when gun break/malfunction or issuing a replacement to make sure an officer goes home with a gun after their gun is taken into evidence due to an OIS.
Yeah, I kind of talked myself down a path there.
We went a long time without an OIS (or a broken gun for that matter). We had an OIS where the guy came back to work and was just given a new gun (new to him or new in the box, I don't know) and sent to work. No qualification. No test fire. No opportunity to drift the rear sight.
I got wind of that after the first day the guy worked and went to the lieutenant in charge of firearms and raised hell to an extent. The officer worked one more day (we were both on late nights) with the new gun and we went directly to the range when we got off duty and got him some time on the gun. We have no policy that I am aware of for this, but it has been our practice since then.
We did, all though it’s being abandoned and they now have an arrangement with the local gun club. It’s about ten minutes from the PD and the armorer could run out there as needed.
Yes. We have a training complex (classroom and 3 ranges plus room to grow) just outside town. Pretty nice setup for a 50 man department. Our old Chief saved his seizure money and spent it well.
Formerly known as xpd54.
The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.
www.gunsnobbery.wordpress.com
My recommendation to guys running Privately Owned/Duty Authorized guns is to not show up to qual until they have 1k rounds through the gun without cleaning. Manipulations, scores, and malfunctions tell me who followed the advice and who didn't. If they can afford a private duty gun and all its support gear 1k rounds is nothing.
I also used to annually inspect duty guns. Soured me on State Contract S&W M-forgeries. And I would have never selected 9mm M&P 1.0s off the State Contract as an issue piece.
I am no longer head of firearms due to incestuous hiring, but am the senior firearms instructor. Now we do none of that stuff. We do, however test trigger weights once a year, not something supported by policy. I don't mind, I just wish the idiots screaming about liability knew what they were talking about with more than a coin toss of accuracy and the ability hold fast to their professional opinions when challenged by those in power. I have been to Federal Court with a very, very good attorney contracted to the City on a use of force issue. I learned a lot, and while stressful, I have enough information now to not be afraid. Plaintif's councel was a cast iron, stone clad bitch. Had to be threatened with jail time to pay her client because she was a crusader with a mission who didn't want to take "yes" for an answer. I technically lost that case.
Liability is like radiation. Everyone knows it exists and is afraid of it. Very few know enough to deal with it confidently.
Sorry, long day, yadda, yadda, yadda...
pat
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