The Uninteresting Police Sidearm

American Handgunner, July, 2001 by Massad Ayoob

Conventional doctrine is that the police duty sidearm is a close-range weapon carried for reactive emergencies only, and that its potential accuracy is not particularly relevant. Like all conventional wisdom, this only holds true in conventional situations.

Bad guys know how to take cover and create distance, just like we do. Remember the military-style tactics employed by suspects Platt and Matix in the notorious FBI Massacre in Dade County, April 11, 1986? Remember the distance, body armor and occasional cover employed by the perpetrators of the North Hollywood bank robbery? Bad guys aren't all tactical morons.

Distance, obscured line of sight and small targets were in play in both cases. At such moments, the ability to deliver precision accuracy with the only weapon available-- the one in your holster when you arrive on the scene-- becomes a critical component of police officer survival.