Saturday, December 31, 2022

The 90-7-3 Rule On Full Display

 The 90-7-3 Rule defined:

  • 90% of LEO have one firearm, their duty weapon, which they begrudgingly qualify with once a year. They do not hunt, target shoot, plink, or compete off duty. In the event of a justified shooting, they will empty their magazine(s) towards the perp and maybe hit them. IMHO, there should be no more than one or two shots fired, and unless the bad guy is wearing body armor, should result in a fatality every time. Instead what we get is the ground littered with empty LEO brass, and a perp hit once or twice and recovering in the hospital.
  • 7% of LEO do own and use firearms outside of their normal duties. They will hunt, target shoot, plink and maybe even compete at a lower level by shooting clays, silhouette, bullseye, or at a turkey shoot. They might even load their own ammo.
  • 3% of LEO are truly firearms experts. They most likely grew up with firearms and served in the military. On the job they are instructors for other LEO and may be members of tactical teams. Not only do they participate in all types of recreation with firearms, they probably compete at a high level shooting like 3-Gun, Military, SWAT Challenges, IPSC and IPDA. They are NRA safety instructors, Range Safety Officers, and belong to the local sportsman's club, teaching the civilian population firearms safety. They may even be advanced hand loaders, gunsmiths, and hold an FFL. I actually know one of these. He's a retired LEO that works at the state's largest gun retailer at their indoor range as an R.S.O. and instructor. His son has followed in his footsteps at a different police department here in Kommiecticut. Both are big Second Amendment supporters and support civilian firearms ownership and use.

 

So here is what prompted this post... an EMS call last night involving a violent individual with a firearm. For our part, we were to stage until state police made the scene safe. We got called in to provide EMS services after the individual was taken into custody. But it turns out, the scene wasn't 100% safe. The handgun, a J-Frame 5-shot S & W revolver was in the hands of an inexperienced state trooper trying to unload it and all the time exhibiting poor muzzle discipline. He and his partners could not get the cylinder open, and they asked ME if I knew how to do it. I professed to them to be a gun guy quite familiar with wheel-guns. I immediately saw the problem... THE FUCKING HAMMER WAS BACK! The cylinder release is never going to work that way on any modern revolver and that trooper had no idea how little trigger pressure it would take to cause a negligent discharge. He handed me the gun, and I moved over to the lawn area, pointed the muzzle to the ground, and properly lowered the hammer. I pushed the cylinder latch and popped the cylinder out. I then handed the gun back to the trooper with all the rounds still in the cylinder. All of state troopers admitted that they were unfamiliar with revolvers, because they are used to dealing with semi-autos. We got the patient to the hospital without incident.

I would be more than happy to provide firearms training to these guys. They don't know revolvers? The cylinder mechanism is different between Ruger, S & W, and Dan Wesson.What would they do with a lever action? A Henry unloads differently than a Marlin or Winchester. How about a bolt or semi rifle with a flush fit box magazine? How about a mil-surp? An M1 Garand? How about a Mauser or a Mosin-Nagant where you pop open the magazine floor plate? The list is endless.

7 comments:

  1. But you're the one that's not allowed to carry a firearm on duty...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @rickn8or: Because I am also a firefighter, I am OK with that. If I worked for a commercial ambulance service doing strictly EMS, I would probably ignore the law and work rules and carry anyway. My job is rural, but the commercial services tend to be mostly in the urban shitholes.

      Delete
  2. Hey Glypto;

    "Wheelguns" are Old school, and we are "Old School", and a lot of younger people ain't familiar with the older series of firearms because all they know are the "Plastic Fantastics".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, young-uns and David Codrea's "only ones".

      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QNa5n2I_DUw

      Delete
  3. OOOOOOOHHH !!!
    Bad move !!
    Now your prints are on the weapon !!!
    Just "kidding"
    Yes, a dirty little secret is that not every cop is a "gun guy" Some of them HATE having to carry a gun.
    We can debate this forever, but should cops carry semi autos?
    I've seen way to many videos of police actions where mag dumps happen (panic fire????)
    Anyhoo......
    HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Matthew W: HA! Nope... I already had my gloves on because I had started taking care of the PT before having to deal with the gun. The state trooper however, was handling it bare handed. Because of the chain of custody, it's not like the gun was "found" at a crime scene. At a suicide scene a couple of years ago, the body was partially covering a long gun. I had to roll the victim over for examination and presumption. I made sure the state trooper was right there to secure the firearm so I never touched it.

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  4. I think your 90/7/3 numbers are spot on. It is actually a sad thing. But with so many major cities pushing police to be social workers instead of law enforcement professionals, there is little wonder why there has been a shift from gun and physical training to legal and social worker type training.
    A civilian who did the spray and pray kind of shooting that we see from many police officers would be in deep shit after the incident. I don't think that the police should go back to revolvers, because the reasons for semi autos still exist. However, I do think that training for police personal on firearms efficiency should be more emphasized.
    The police should be at least as proficient as the average concealed carry civilian, who trains or even just shoots a thousand rounds a year. I suspect that there are many cops who don't even do that. It is not asking too much that a cop is trained and then expected to shoot at least a hundred rounds a month, on the agencies dime. And with a dedicated trainer in attendance, to help ensure that they officers are making good use of their time on the range. Practice needs to be done with the eye towards improving performance, and not just to burn up ammo.

    ReplyDelete

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