Police Firearms

Aside from the .40 caliber, the Sig P226 is a popular model for law enforcement.  It was originally designed for the XM9 Service Pistol Trials, which were performed by the US Army in 1984 on behalf of the US armed forces.  The goal was to find a replacement for the M1911A1.  It was only the Beretta 92F and the P226 that satisfactorily completed the trials.  Beretta however was ultimately awarded the contract for the 92F due to overall cost.   The Sig P229 is a compact firearm, often used for concealed carrying purposes and is the standard version that features a DA/SA trigger. It is also available with a DAO trigger Recently, the pistol has also been made available in a DAK (Double Action Kellerman) model, which is a DAO system with two trigger reset points, and a lighter, smoother pull than that of traditional DAO handguns.

But then the .40 calibers seemed to take over the law enforcement field.  With popular models as the Smith & Wesson 4006 and the Glock 23, Police Departments started switching over to the larger caliber round.  Not only is the round bigger, it provided more stopping power which is what police need.  There has been countless arguments over which is the better, but the 40's seem to be weapons of choice for law enforcement now.

Do Police need more fire power?

It really depends where the officer works.  Go out to LA or any high crime area, and police officers will tell you they need more firearms.  But drive up to Beverly Hills, and the firepower isn't as critical.  But in our opinion, firepower needs to be upgraded for law enforcement officers in general.  Gangs simply out power most departments when it comes to their weapons.  Take the North Hollywood Shootout for example, where two heavily-armed and armored bank robbers, Larry Phillips, Jr. and Emil Matasareanu, shot it out with patrol and SWAT officers of the Los Angeles Police Department on February 28, 1997.  The shootings highlighted the growing divergence between the technology that police use, and the offensive and defensive technologies employed by criminals. Both suspects wore body armor which standard police weapons could not penetrate.  They also used automatic assault rifles loaded with armor-piercing ammunition which penetrated almost any form of cover that the responding police officers used.  This is what really sparked a debate in regards to what firepower police officers should be armed with.

Some departments have added the AR15

The AR-15 is a lightweight, air-cooled, magazine fed, auto-loading, center fire rifle.  Because of its light weigh and precision accuracy, its a perfect fit for law enforcement.  The original ArmaLite/Colt AR-15 was a selective-fire prototype submitted for consideration as a military infantry rifle, and is distinguished from later civilian-model AR-15 and AR-15A2 rifles marketed by Colt Firearms.

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