COP TALK

Valid research, more than anything else, should drive new duty handgun selection. But when law enforcement agencies choose new sidearms, different forces...

After an officer-involved shooting (OIS), there are agonizingly long investigations … and then, more than one jury to face.

Rangemaster’s Tom Givens gathers master instructors to brainstorm on teaching issues.

Cops carry more ammo today than in yesteryear. Is there such a thing as too much?

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...

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

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...

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

Red dot optical sights are the hottest police service pistol trend in America today. Not surprisingly, how to train with them has become an equally hot...

I started carrying a 1911 Colt .45 auto in uniform in the early ‘70s, in a time and place where it was uncommon. I heard other cops mutter, “He’s a...

As a young patrolman in the 70s, I got into the habit of mostly keeping my hand on a holstered weapon with the retaining device released. Jim Lindell in...

We must remember every suspect we close with has access to a pistol — ours.

You’ve won the gunfight. Now come the court fights… in criminal court, in civil court, and in the court of public opinion. Current cop, retired cop, or...

On April 11, 2021, Kim Potter of the Brooklyn Center, MN Police Department was on patrol with a new officer she was training. Field training officer (FTO)...

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

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...

“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...

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

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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,...

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.

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...

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,

Is your gun sufficiently accurate and “shootable” — in your hands — particularly under stress? Enough rounds on board and potent enough to get the...

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

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...

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

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,...

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

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,...

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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