Magazine article's and the innernet seem sold on the idea that the majority of cops out on the street are not all 100% safe , situationally aware and proficient.

Some say most only go to the range 2 or 4 times a year, and then thats just to shoot at a stationary target .

other articles claim that some only clean their gun that often,

some don't carry when off duty ,out of uniform.

I've seen it on cop's that more that a few don't know how to clear a gun that they find.

I'd be interested in know what percentage carry a second gun on their person.

just curious,

Second gun every shift. Off duty carry when off.
Second gun was a medium auto or J Frame.
About half of my co-workers did the same.

I always carried a secondary and when off duty. Still do. Most don’t.

Second gun when I was a real cop. Just one now that I'm an administrator.
I always carry when I'm off duty. Most don't do either.

2 guns on and off duty for 33 years. Retired for over 3 years and still always carry 2.

I used to know the actual number for my department. Something around 10% though qualify with either a gun for off-duty or back up.

I would say less than half of that actually carries one on duty as a back up.

We have to qualify once every 365 days to be on the up and up. It’s actually quite a pain in the butt because of scheduling it and how rare it is offered. I usually qualify twice a year just because of that. And every time, I see somebody fail to qualify. We have to score an 80% rather than a 70, which is the requirement (70%) for general duty guns.

For the vast majority of officers, your understanding is actually understated.

Depends on the agency. Some allow a second gun and some do not. Mine doesn't. We shoot about 10 months out of the year and then do an annual armoring where the (issued) guns are gone through for any replacement parts needed. Then it's off to the range to verify function. 2 official quals and 8 training days. By policy the guns have to be cleaned within 24 hours of a range day. Duty ammo replaced every other year. We have 5 levels of shoot-house training available as optional/advanced training. I carry either a Smith 642 or Walther PPS Gen1 as an off duty piece.

quote:

Originally posted by enidpd804:
Second gun when I was a real cop. Just one now that I'm an administrator.
I always carry when I'm off duty.

Ditto, to all of the above.

I have been retired from law enforcement for close to 20 years now and during the, almost 30 years in LE, I never carried a back-up. Now, I carry ccw all the time and if I were still active I most certainly would be carrying a back-up.

Things have changed a lot since I retired and not packing a back-up in this day and age, is foolhardy, IMHO.

Back in the late 60's when Illinois State Police selected the S&W Model 39 as their service pistol, part of the rationale was to give the troopers a pistol that they can carry both on and off duty (flat profile). At that time they required their troopers to carry their star and firearm at all times. Many agencies adopted their approach when semi-autos came into vogue and required the same gun for on and off duty carry. There were some training liability concerns that helped drive those policies. A number of agencies did not allow backup guns due to security concerns (a lot of officers lost their backups from ankle holsters), and there was concern over "throwdowns".

My department was meticulous about maintenance and we shot a lot as compared to other departments.

If I were chief of a department in today's environment I would issue primary and off duty/backup guns, train them with both, and issue a means to securely carry the backup as well as the off duty.

You are correct. The majority of Cops are not “gun guys” and don’t shoot, clean their gun or carry off duty. I never carried a back up, but I shoot often and carry my Glock off duty most of the time. I had one guy I finished qualifying who had some issues, I broke down his gun and asked him when he last cleaned and lubed his duty gun.. he said probably a couple years ago!

It's against my agency's policy.

When I was a cop, we could carry a backup but had to qualify on it. Out of the 120 cops at the dept, typically less than ten came to qual for backup gun day. That was the way for the 18 years I worked there.

We were encouraged to carry off duty but it wasn’t mandated. Also, they could just carry their duty gun-P226, only a few women had 228s or 229s- so mostly I knew hardly anyone carried off duty...

I carried two guns always when on duty.
I always carried off duty
and I carry always now after retiring.

I’ve seen how quickly shit goes south, and trying to get to the truck or back into the house ain’t gonna cut it.

I worked in a city of 45k people with a huge unemployment rate and was mostly ghetto. There was no love for the police. Even before obama started his war on cops. It may be that I didn’t just show up for a paycheck like many of my coworkers, I was actually proactive and was despised by several coworkers because I made them look bad on a daily basis.


Most of the employees scored in the 80s or lower, NCs requirement was only 70%. There were less than ten guys who could score a hundred.

And I remember one guy come to training, and when we were clearing our guns to be inspected, he ejected a ball round he had chambered from the last years training. We were issued Speer golddots and were supposed to clean and load up before leaving the range. But this clown had slipped thru the cracks and had a live training round in his gun all year...

Most cops are not gun guys

My agency also has restrictions on a second (back-up) carry firearm. I'm always armed when not on the job, even at the gym!!!

A friend of mine was in the San Francisco PD. He tells me that many cops carried the issued P226 as primary, and a P228 as back up. The P228 was kept on the chest, inside of the vest.

For SF being as screwed up as it was, my buddy tells me the PD had excellent good training and leadership. Well, probalby the leadership at the very top was sketchy, but the non-politically appointed persons were excellent.

Carried a 33 as a backup on duty for a long time. Issued gun was 31. Off duty carried the 32 and 33. Gave the 33 to a coworker recently so she can have an off duty gun. I’m using a 43x now as a secondary gun.

Always kept a second gun off duty in case I needed to hand it to whoever I was with if they didn’t have their own. Like my kids.

I’ll add...

I’d totally carry two duty guns AND a backup if they’d let me

17 and 43 on duty have an AR as well.
43 always off duty unless I am in the woods then it is the 20.


Curious to the reason behind not being able to carry a backup?

I'm now retired (26+ years) but always carried a backup weapon on duty and a weapon off duty. There were officers/investigators that did not carry a backup and some that did not carry off duty. There was no requirement for either other than qualification of the regular coarse if a backup or off duty is chosen. The agency had an approved armory list of weapons and calibers for back up or off duty.

As to range time, back then when budgets got tight, department required qualifying was reduced. FATS training was substituted. Many officers/investigators on my agency were prior LEO or military. They were more disciplined about their weapons, range practice and back up/off duty. Some were just pretty boys/girls who could care less and never removed their pistols except at the range, and their pistols showed their neglect.

Keep in mind that statistically most officers go their entire career without having to resort to deadly force. I experienced it twice within ten years. In my assigned vehicle I carried a CAR15 and an 870 because I worked alone in an area known for narcotics trafficking. I still carry a pistol everyday around the property and when away from home.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: az4783054,

I carried a Sig P238 on my ankle every day ECXEPT the one day I was involved in a shooting. I never made that mistake again.

I'm no longer a uniformed patrol officer and do not carry a backup. I typically have a second weapon in my backpack that sits next to my desk, but it's not really a backup gun. If I work an off duty project and am in uniform, I carry my P365 in a cargo pocket now, but those details are few and far between.


If I'm wearing clothes, I have a gun. So, off duty carry is 100% of the time I am in public.