quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

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.

Same here.


TXPO

P320 Carry 9mm on duty, with a P320SC 9mm w/flush fit mag on the ankle...both issued by my dept. Off duty, I carry the P320SC, but I swap out the flush fit mag for one with finger extensions. I used to have a P365, but I like the larger grip of the P320SC and mag compatibility with the rest of the P320 Variants.

As far as carry, In summer I wore a vest holster and had all my shirt buttons permanently sewed on and then used velcro to close the shirt. I had our seamstress split the lower inside seam of the left leg of my pants and sew velcro to the seam so I could access my ankle rig quickly if I wore it. In winter, I did sometimes carry in a coat pocket.

Howdy!

I’ve been retired for 12 year but I spent 37 years working in a large Police Department and 28 of that in specialized division Narcotics. Working in patrol I started carrying a backup/secondary but back in the seventies that was a small auto. Working in Narcotics I carried Glock’s towards the end. Glock 24C ad Glock 27 undercover/secondary/off duty and a Bennelli M1 Super 90 on tactical missions. Now days I still believe in carrying a secondary my everyday carry is a Sig P365 and secondary in a NAA Pug 22mag.

“Happy Trails”
Chiefneon

It was a long time ago but about 50 years ago, when I was a young police officer, I read or heard about officers being murdered after they'd somehow lost their revolvers (pretty much every officer carried a revolver back in the dark ages).

I looked for a way to carry a second, smaller weapon, just in case. I tried Browning 25s, Beretta 22 shorts and 25s in different pockets and finally settled on a S&W Model 36 in an ankle holster on my left ankle for right hand draw but which could be accessed by my left hand it necessary. Over the years the ankle holsters got better and I ended up with a quality leather holster which I kept for many years after leaving the police force to go to Law School.

Most of my fellow officers were not gun people and rarely shot, even to qualify unless someone made them.

Bob

I’ve seen it run in cycles...when they’re new officers run out and buy off-duty / backup guns. Then, overtime when they get bored, find it inconvenient, or just forget to train with them the guns end up staying at home. Then later, when there’s some publicized event of an off duty incident, or we start seeing a rise in active shooter incident, then they start caring them again.

Not nearly as many as should carry one. I do a G19, works for me in what we normally wear. Some who work offline use a backup as their primary if they dont like the issued pistol. Sorry to hear some arent allowed a backup. Thats crazy pills for anyone but the .mil kids. Have any of you attempted challenging that policy via your union?

When I was new and in field training we weren't allowed to carry backups until after our first year. I carried a backup anyway. During that time we were issued my beloved P220 and my BUG was a glock G36.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BennerP220,

When I started in '94 we were issued a SW 4006. While in the Academy, my 4006 locked up so tight they had to beat it with a hammer to get to eject a spent round. When off FTO, I bought a P220 and carried it in a holster attached to my Kevlar vest as a second until policy changed and we were allowed to carry what wanted. To this day, I will never, ever consider a SW anything. Perhaps not a rational response, but there it is never the less. Once I was able to carry the P220 as a primary, I stopped carrying a second handgun on my person. I drive a desk now, aside from the FN .45 on my hip, my second is a hatchet hanging on a book case behind me.

We are mandated to carry off duty if your driving your take home car. Out of 100 sworn the vast majority that I see off duty are carrying regardless. I carry a 938. Just recently got a 365 that I will rotate in once I feel more comfortable with it. Its a really a cultural thing, we are fortunate that most all believe in carrying and staying proficient. There are always exceptions, but its important to the vast majority.

Glock 42 as a BUG every shift. When I wore the “regular uniform” it was in a holster attached to my body armor. Now that we authorize the external vest carrier (Safariland Oregon City) it has a nice little BUG pocket where I kept it under my shirt. Used to carry a 442 before the G42 but, the G42 is so thin...

Off duty. I can say I carry 95% of the time. Guys in my agency? I would say about half carry off duty. I would say maybe half carry back up. My dept. policy is that off duty guns you are responsible for ammo. We had a new policy come down where the dept. will provide one box of duty ammo and one box off practice ammo per year for your back up gun. So if your smart your back up gun is your off duty. This increased the numbers of people carrying off duty and BUGs.

Besides a lot of cops not being gun people a lot of cops are some of the biggest tightwads you would meet!!!

I used to carry a G22 as primary and a G27 as backup/off duty. Nowadays it’s a G19 and a G43. I always carry the G43 off duty.

I carried a 640-1 on my right ankle (butt forward) for my whole career. Primary was a P-220; S&W 4006 TSW and finally a P-320.

I also had a P-239 within reach in the truck, as well as an AR pistol mounted horizontally along the console.

Regarding non-gun-guy cops: one of our detectives always took all three trys to qual, but during an OIS he did drop the bad guy with two center mass at 35 yards.

Gen 5 Glock 19 in my current police academy teaching gig with G43 BUG on ankle in an outstanding Desantis Die Hard ankle rig. Sometimes, the G43 is in a kydex pocket holster by AHolster. Both are loaded with HST +P. I use this same combo when off duty. I've lost 42 pounds on keto, so now I can carry my G19 AIWB and the G43 on the ankle, just like when I'm at work.

When I was still on duty as a uniformed officer, I was issued a duty Gen 3 G22C and carried a G27 as a BUG attached to my body armor. I really liked that G27. Very accurate. We qualified with the G22C quarterly and the BUG G27 annually in a dedicated BUG course of fire. Duty load in both .40s was Remington 165-grain Golden Saber Bonded, an outstanding duty load at the time but is no longer made.

I tell our police recruits that they're foolish to not carry a BUG on duty or a gun off duty if policy allows. My co-workers at the academy and most street officers I know carry a BUG on duty and at least 1 gun off duty, but rarely 2.

When I started out, I carried a S&W 36 as a BUG and off duty. As time went on, it changed to Det. Spec., P230SL, then P239.

One small department issued a Beretta Jetfire .25. Reason being, it is better to have something you can, and will, always carry than nothing. On a few occasions,
I did carry it.

Carried about 99% of the time off duty, until I had an unnerving situation that was resolved verbally. After that, and to this day, I always carry.

My experience as LE in New England: No second gun issued or authorized. Most do not carry off duty and believe it or not most don't take their duty gun home, it stays in the locker.

There are exceptions but this is my experience and I worked the drug task force for six years with several depts and two States. My Dept. started allowing retirees to stay on as special police officers and work road jobs but they have to purchase an approved firearm. As an instructor I get asked what gun, what caliber, where can I buy it... and then they retire and it takes them several months to actually buy the gun. As stated before, most aren't "gun guys".

quote:

Originally posted by 10-7 leo:

One small department issued a Beretta Jetfire .25. Reason being, it is better to have something you can, and will, always carry than nothing. On a few occasions,
I did carry it.

As a young officer I carried a .25 Beretta with a pop-up barrel as a backup in a shirt pocket for a while. It even fit in a wallet for off duty. I thought it was better than a sharp stick.

very interesting stuff, thanks to all those choosing to add in.

I guess I should add what my current carry is: glock gen4 17. I carry either a Remington RM380 or LCP in my support side cargo pocket in a desantis nemesis holster.

To give a direct answer to your question, I would say less than 10% of the officers I worked with carried a BUG, and I would say that is a generous estimate. Those that did were the "gun guys".

Off duty, almost everyone I knew carried.

I worked 2/3 of my time with a large PD, the last 1/3 with a much smaller one. I don't know percentages, but while allowed, few of us carried a second weapon on duty years ago. I was one of those that did not carry a second weapon. I came to regret that one day. More carried off duty, as I routinely did. Later, I was a Dept. armorer and had the opportunity to encourage officers to carry a second weapon and off duty. I'm retired now, and would hope more carry a second weapon on duty than in years past, and off duty too...

At both big and small departments, I was sometimes called to clear a weapon/s officers encountered. Most had little knowledge of the workings of weapons they were not paid to carry. As others have indicated, most cops are not gun guys.