TexasCHLforum.com

Oh, and one minor nit-pick, AndyC... cops are civilians, too.

AndyC wrote:

JSThane wrote:We do have after-hours extra training available, if our schedules line up with the instructors', and IF we have extra ammo. Most of us don't use this, though, because we do have lives outside of work, and the "optional training" is voluntary, therefore not paid for, and often there's no extra ammunition for it, anyway.

Not to meaning in any way to pick you apart - but obviously we civvies have lives outside of work, too, and we make a point to buy or reload our own ammo to get the the range on weekends.

When I worked armed response and then executive protection details, I'd go through 500 - 1,000 rounds per week; and those were hand-cranked through a single-stage press at a rate of 100 per hour, so I invested 5-10 hours each week just in reloading-time to make sure I had the best chance of making it home.

You're not picking anything apart. You're actually highlighting part of the problem. Lots of cops aren't "gun people," and so aren't willing to invest the time, effort, and money into buying / reloading ammo and practicing with it. The gun is just part of the belt they put on every day for work, and once they take the belt off at the end of the day, its very existence ceases to register in their consciousness. "I can qualify, therefore I am a good shot" is as far as their mental processes get. The firearm, being a part of their job, gets "left at work" mentally. I have several coworkers who are like this; they never fired a gun before the academy, don't carry off-duty, and can't figure out why anyone would -want- to. Others, while they understand why someone would want to have a gun all the time, disagree with the conclusion for various reasons, and therefore deliberately "leave it at work."

A person with a concealed handgun license, however, is not packing as part of a job. It's a personal decision, made after careful consideration, and oftentimes has little to no bearing on what they do at work. Because the gun does not get "left at work" in their minds, the need for practice doesn't either. Because it's a personal habit, and not something you do for a paycheck (however rewarding the job may be), it becomes a matter of personal importance to improve, expand, and refine that particular skill set.

---

It also does not help matters for the cops who ARE gun people that the lawyers are getting into the "duty ammo" issue. I don't know how it is at other departments, but ours has instituted a "no ammo except issued ammo may -ever- be fired in an issued weapon" policy several years ago. Since they're not giving OUT ammo, we're stuck with either violating policy, or just not practicing with our duty sidearm.

If NYC has one training range, and over 35 thousand officers, then even allowing for only one qualification/training day per officer per year, they're still running well over 100 officers a day through that range, five days a week, 52 weeks a year. How much time and training are they actually able to devote to any one officer at THAT rate?

We qualify four times a year, once a quarter, with 5 to 15 shooters per range day. We still have a problem with lack of training time and instructor attention. We do have after-hours extra training available, if our schedules line up with the instructors', and IF we have extra ammo. Most of us don't use this, though, because we do have lives outside of work, and the "optional training" is voluntary, therefore not paid for, and often there's no extra ammunition for it, anyway. And we've got it good, compared to the NYPD.

Factor in the "New York trigger" (yes, you can get used to it, but it takes practice and familiarity... which they apparently didn't have much of), adrenaline, a hefty crowd, and a couple of rookies, and you've got a Bat Masterson moment. Again.

Just remember, though, according to the liberals, we're the "only ones" competent enough to carry a gun.