Backup guns—a must stock

Shooting Industry, June, 2007 by Massad Ayoob

There were multiple cases in the DOJ report that cried out for a second loaded handgun instantly accessible to the officer. In a surprising number of incidents, the officer's service pistol jammed in the course of a fight. Drawing a second gun is often faster than clearing a malfunction, particularly if you were the unlucky officer in the report who experienced a spent casing lodged backwards inside the feedway of his pistol. In a couple of the cases, the involved officers did in fact "resort to backup," surviving as a result.

First, have in stock compact handguns suitable for the rules and regs of your local agencies, and comfortable, secure, discreet holsters. Most holster makers have good ankle rigs available, and Gould & Goodrich offers one specifically for the patrol boots many officers now wear instead of the old brogan-style uniform shoes. Uncle Mike's and other makers offer holsters designed to be strapped to the officer's body armor under the uniform shirt.

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Second, stock guns available in a range of prices. One officer in the study was saving his money to buy a "baby Glock" to mate with his full-size Glock service pistol. However, the nest egg still wasn't big enough when he lost the ability to resort to his primary handgun and he had nothing with which to fight. A good used pistol or a lower-priced, snub-nose revolver would have been a godsend for him.

A large agency in the Southwest understands this need. Years ago, the agency's trainers and supervisors decided it was a good idea to issue backup guns to all personnel and purchased small-caliber, pocket-size Berettas for that purpose. Having since switched to the Glock 31 in .357 SIG as standard issue, they decided the finely made, but small-caliber Beretta was insufficiently powerful for the job. They determined the ideal backup gun would be a Glock 33, the "baby" version of the duty weapon, firing the same powerful .357 SIG cartridge.

Unfortunately, the budget did not allow for the purchase of the guns. However, the agency did have enough money to purchase the bargain-priced Smith & Wesson Model 642 .38 Special Airweight for each officer. This was done. The agency may have the money in the future to purchase the requisite quantity of Glock 33s, but a five-shot .38 now is seen as more expeditious to officer survival than a 10-shot .357 later. You can't argue with that solid logic.

That same S & W Model 642 has proven to be the single best-selling off-duty and backup gun among Chicago cops, according to Mitch Shore at Shore Galleries. The store is the primary provider of ordnance to Windy City cops, who buy their own firearms. It makes sense for you to have some in inventory as well.

If your local departments approve other brands, companies like Kahr, Kel-Tec and Taurus offer pistols and/or revolvers suitable for this task--models you can sell to working cops at low price points. Remember, the cops working the most dangerous shifts are often the younger officers, who are not yet at peak earning ability with their department. They tend to be young marrieds, with young, growing kids and lots of bills. Affordability is important to reaching this market.

Saved By Safety

Two of the officers in the DOJ study were saved when a suspect gained control of their on-safe service pistol, tried to shoot them with it, and failed because the manual safety was engaged. This design has fallen out of favor among the majority of police departments--in large part a casualty of the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) Principle that has pervaded law enforcement training. Still, the nation's most heavily manned sheriff's department is mandated to carry on-safe auto pistols on duty, and there have been numerous "saves" among their ranks that mirror the two cases mentioned in the DOJ study.

If cops in your area have options in this regard, offer pistols that have this feature. Beretta, Colt, HK, Ruger, Smith & Wesson and Taurus have semiauto pistols with manual safeties.

One by-product of the renaissance of the 1911 pistol in police work has been this "proprietary nature to the user" feature of the manual safety, since a 1911 must be carried cocked-and-locked. In off-duty and backup guns, numerous cocked-and-locked 1911 compacts are available. The most popular are produced by Colt, Kimber, Para-Ordnance and Springfield Armory.