Why no Laser Sights?

[Toomire]

Hey all,

Another one of those random questions that pop into your head that just NEED to be asked..

I personally have never seen a LEO's (patrolman) firearm have a laser site mounted to it. Now first let me clarify that I have only shot a pistol twice in my life so I am certainly no expert, but wouldn't having a laser sight aid the police officer in making quick aim, et cetera? Are there rules against these in your departments? I am so curious!!

Thanks in advance!
Justin

[R1364]

Deleted by poster

[Legoate]

Also pinpoints the location of the officer and gun. In the dark, Id prefer for the badguy not to know exactly where I'm standing.

[Bearcat06]

I'd much rather use the glow of my trijicon night sites as opposed to a laser that will let the bad guys know where I am at.

[Swat1]

In my experience the only usefull purpose for a laser aiming device in LE was for shield carriers. Usually for SWAT or drug teams. For my SWAT team we initially used laser aiming devices for shield carriers because it is very difficult to use your sights when behind the shield. We experimented with alot of different things and based on our own experiences and the experiences of several other teams we changed it up. I am not going to go into how we changed it up here, but the fact of the matter is the laser aiming device is not something for use for every officer out there. There are certainly certain situations like the one described above which work well. I know of one situation where a laser aiming device was used by SWAT without the shield (although it was still a handung LAD) to lase the subjects chest in an open air environment where the subject was holding a knife and swiping at the open air while we were at a good distance. He didn't like being lased, dropped the knife and gave up.

If every cop had a laser on their firearm and several officers were called out to a hot situation, it would get very confusing very quickly with 5, 6, 7, 8, + lasers being shone all over. Second, the liability issue of eye damage is a real one.

Swat1*

[K-9MALY]

Somebody correct me if this wrong, been awhile since I heard in the academy so many moons ago.
The Rule of Three states that most firefights involve
A distance of three feet on average
A duration of three seconds.
A total of three shots fired.
Now this could be old mumbo jumbo that has been passed down in each academy class, I don't know. What I do know from experience is that the times that I have had to draw and level my weapon, it is close range and all situations have resulted in compliance. All I think I would end up doing with a super enhanced laser sighting system is break it. There is an old adage that says if your enemy is within range, then so are you.

[ChesCopPodz]

Prohibited here by policy

[mcsap]

Laser sights look cool and work great on TV where everything is rehearsed and scripted. In the real world, you need to be able to draw your weapon and fire in a deadly force scenario without having to rely on "external aids" .

[Samuel]

Varies from department to department. The pros and cons have been discussed before, try the search feature...

[Switchback]

As mentioned above, lasers are a huge asset for a shield guy on a tactical team. We all had them isssued to us on our SRT. Personally, outside of the shiled guy, they are more for oooh-and-aah factors. Yeah, they look sexy. However, one of the basics of firearms instruction is to look to your sights. Lasers train you to look at your target. If you are in an environment where the laser will not work (extremely bright light, fog,smoke, etc) or it fails (batteries go dead), you will be looking at y our target when you should be looking at our sights. Everything we do is muscle memory. Why train to a bad habit? I never carried mine. I would throw it on if I were on the shield and that is it.

Also, giving your position away is a non issue. THey do not leave kines back to your position unless you are in a smoky or foggy room and they would not likely be of any use in these environments.

[corporal716]

A lot of our guys had them when they were new, but the department band them a couple of years back. The Range Masters did not want people becoming dependent on them. Now that the department bought and issued everyone weapons no one can modify their duty weapon in anyway.

[TX-LEO]

Hey all,

I personally have never seen a LEO's (patrolman) firearm have a laser site mounted to it. Now first let me clarify that I have only shot a pistol twice in my life so I am certainly no expert, but wouldn't having a laser sight aid the police officer in making quick aim, et cetera? Are there rules against these in your departments? I am so curious!!

Thanks in advance!
Justin

No real need for it.

[valycop]

If you're in a firefight there's not time to try and site the laser in on the target. Just like the swat guys said it's great when you're looking thru a telescopic sight and have the time to carefully place the shot it's another when you have a microsecond to react.

[qpd158]

Every departmentally issued handgun was fitted with and still has the laser sights. Not one officer I know of, has ever used it for target practice etc. Aim on the laser is easily offset, therefore we only shoot whats in our sight picture. One extremely good use of the laser, Felony traffic stops, getting the mopes out of their car, shining the laser in the rear view mirror for the driver and dash for everyone else, gets them to really think about their next move. I have only used mine a few times and it has worked everytime. To avoid eye contact, keep it pointed on the chest.

[Toomire]

I appreciate all the responses guys, and all the answers definitely make sense - again I appologize for the newb-ish question! ;) I'm sorry for not finding anything with the search feature as well (Samuel).

Stay safe,
Justin