COP TALK

OPINION AND FACTS FROM THE MEAN STREETS
1911+ .357 = SIG TACOPS

More cops are carrying the 1911 pistol today than at any time in history. “Shootability” due to good ergonomics and trigger pull, a short reach to the...
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Going Back: 45 to 9 to... 45?

A cop who became famous for switching to a 9mm with 145 rounds on his person after a gunfight returns to a .45.
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The Police Revolver ... It...

Coposaurus-Rex is not extinct. He walks among us even as we speak. And it’s probably not wise to mess with him.
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Fast & Accurate For Cops

Learning from world champion competitive shooter, Rob Leatham.
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The Handguns of the Texas...

Founded with ten brave men in the year 1823, the Texas Rangers are now celebrating their 200th Anniversary. Their first leap forward came with the very...
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To Cops, From Dave Lauck

Lawmen and armed citizens alike can benefit from this man’s wisdom.
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One Policeman's...

Wyatt Earp. The name resonates through American history, and not just among peace officers. Stuart Lake’s biography Wyatt Earp, Frontier Marshal first...
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Self-Defense...

Police use of force is under more scrutiny than ever today, much of it unjustified. Whether cop or armed citizen, be prepared to defend yourself in changing...
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Cop Talk:...

“We don’t try our cases in the press” has to change. Here’s why. There’s a Latin saying: Silentium est consensus. It translates to “silence...
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Beyond Dashcam...

The Viridian X5L Gen 3 Gun-mounted camera just might save your freedom by documenting exactly what happened in a defensive encounter.
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Why Are 9mm...

It’s no secret cops have gone heavily to the 9mm in the last few years, but not everyone understands why.
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Precision Police...

Defensive police handgun fire sometimes has to be fast and furious … but sometimes, distance or limited threat exposure require precision.
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What Cops...

When Handgunner began in 1976, the service revolver was still king. Only one major civilian law enforcement entity adopted pistols as standard issue for all...
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Can You Really...

New duty gear may make some things easier, but some things harder.
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Double Action...

Hated by Jeff Cooper, loved by police liability lawyers, double action only (DAO) duty pistols are a breed all their own.
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Micro Red Dots

Trending among gun enthusiasts who carry concealed, compact red dot sights have found their way into law enforcement, too.
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Understanding...

Misunderstandings, some knowingly fostered by the anti-cop crowd, are rampant among the general public. Here are some truths with which to shoot back.
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Who Should...

As long as any of us have been alive, some law enforcement agencies have mandated a “company gun” policy of one duty sidearm for all armed personnel,...
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Primo Prestige...

If we don’t know where we’ve been, it’s harder to tell where we’re going. In 2020 Colt re-introduced their top-of-the-line Python revolver.
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Survival After A...

Ron Barber’s In the Line of Duty training videos have been a tremendous asset to law enforcement for many years. One of his latest is, I submit, a “must...
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the rise and...

In 2003, a joint effort by GLOCK and an ATK team led by the brilliant Ernest Durham birthed the .45 GAP cartridge. GLOCK’s 13+1 round G21 had, in 13 years,
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Off Duty Capability

Fueled by media hype, mass murders have led more of our guys and gals in blue to carry something more substantial than a vestigial micro-caliber while off-duty.
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The Importance...

Even when it doesn’t cause the gun to malfunction, the unlocked wrist impairs shooting speed and perhaps even accuracy.
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Shot In The Back

From the mid-1980s to 2019, as an expert witness I’ve had to explain — in court — how the suspect managed to get shot from behind, yet it was still...
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The “High...

In 2003 a core group of experienced master trainers including six-time shootout survivor and founder Ed Nowicki, formed the International Law Enforcement...
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Off Duty Carry

When they first pinned a badge on me in 1972, carrying a gun off duty was pretty much part of the law enforcement culture. Some departments mandated it,...
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Will Competition...

Sgt. Matt Little has won many “combat pistol” matches, and feels competition is a stone on which to hone real-world survival skills.
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Learning From...

Karl Rehn near Austin, Texas has become one of today’s most valuable and credible trainers in the areas of firearms and lethal force. He was, for example,...
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Lessons From A...

We can’t expect to defeat enemies we don’t understand. It’s why LAPD’s officer survival guru Rich Wemmer interviewed cop-killers in prison, and why...
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The Lessons of...

In this issue’s Ayoob Files we share the memories of Ed Mireles, the hero of the notorious 1986 FBI firefight in Miami. Ed agrees with the FBI Firearms...
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Do Cops Want...

ILEETA, the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, is the leading organization for advanced multi-dimensional training in the...
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The Current Rise...

The current rise of the 9mm in American policing is not a first-time phenomenon. It’s more like a Renaissance.
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A Police Handgun

Some LE agencies, such as NYPD and Las Vegas Metro, no longer issue handguns at all and require their officers to buy their own. Most departments issue a...
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When "Anti-Gun"...

I recently had occasion to re-read The Saturday Night Special, an anti-gun polemic thinly disguised as investigative journalism by Robert Sherrill...
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Seamless Light:

The object in my hand is shaped like a stylized small Remy Martin cognac bottle, only heavier. I point its wide end at a pickup truck I can barely see in...
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Fingers & Triggers

Finger straight along the frame above the trigger guard has to be made clear! Just “finger on frame” is not enough because the trigger guard is a part...
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Smorgasbord Training

Going back in history, American police training used to be a lot more parochial than it is now. “Not invented here” syndrome. “We’ve always done it...
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One More Safety...

There are few more humiliating things which can happen to a police officer than to shoot himself while holstering his duty pistol. For decades, duty...
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The Pin Shoot

I was a 20-something patrolman when I shot the Second Chance match for the first time. Richard Davis, the inventor of Second Chance Body Armor, had created...
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Learning From...

I’m writing this just after returning from the Texas Bar Association’s annual CLE (Continuing Legal Education) conference on Texas Firearms Law. There...
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The Service...

American cops today carry mostly striker-fired duty pistols or hammer-fired SIG or HK double actions, and unless they’ve been customized they always seem...
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Carry Beyond...

These days it might be your duty to stop the next rampaging mass murderer. Ask yourself the age-old question: if you don’t, who will?
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