Originally Posted by
BLACKROCK6
The facts I have cited beg the question why has the shotgun fallen from favor? Agencies as a rule have failed to mandate an adequate amount of training to make an officer proficient with a shotgun. Police recruits/cadets vociferously complain about the recoil pulse of the shotgun. My personal opinion is the shotgun is just not Tacticool.
Just My Dose Centavos.
I believe there are a variety of reasons that the police shotgun has fallen from favor, some of them legitimate, others not so much.
First and foremost, I think the long march from the police shotgun to the patrol rifle (ever wonder why it wasn't called patrol shotgun?) began in 1997 when the LESO 1033 program was enacted. As you know, this act allowed the transfer of small arms and other military equipment to LE from 'excess' government stock. A 2014 report states that 11.000 law enforcement agencies are registered to receive LESO 1033 support.
The LESO 1033 program was not the only impetus. Fewer and fewer police recruits were coming to police agencies with any knowledge of the shotgun. Once upon a time the assumption might have been that the type of person becoming an LE was likely to have served in the military and/or hunted. By the late 70's, early 80's this was no longer the case, at least in my experience.
However, LE agencies, by-and-large, are slow to adapt except in the face of earth shattering events. So the LE shotgun continued in use because of tradition and cost. Why would agencies get rid of their shotguns and replace them with rifles that cost two to three times as much, and would require many agencies to construct new range facilities?
Coincidentally, in 1997, the same year LESO was enacted, that earth shattering event occurred. The LAPD was stymied in it's response to two armored-up armed robbers wielding what have been commonly described as AK-47's in what has become known as the North Hollywood Shootout. Suddenly, even more so than after the FBI Miami Massacre, the widespread perception was that the police were more and more being outgunned by bad guys, armored bad guys to boot.
So, IMO, that's the history. Before we go on to your comments I think it is germane to the conversation to put forth that I was our academy's primary shotgun trainer for many years, and remained so even after becoming one of our primary patrol rifle trainers. I like shotguns.
90% of all police gunfights take place at 30 feet or less.
Fun fact, historically, nearly 50% occur at ranges of 5 feet or less. Kind of a side track, but, the circumstances involving most police shootings involve officers who did not know (or had not acknowledged to themselves) that they were entering into a dangerous situation. The weapon most used is the sidearm. In circumstances where the shotgun or rifle is deployed, the officer generally has some idea something is up. If this is the case, ideally, we would want longer engagement ranges which brings us into the area where the rifle is advantageous.
An officer who is competent with a shotgun is capable of delivering less-lethal projectiles, chemical agents as well as the traditional projectiles associated with shot guns.
The rub here is competency. Give me 8 hours of training and I will bring a shooter closer to patrol competency with the rifle than the shotgun. Give me three days and I'll still be inclined to believe rifle over shotgun.
There are a couple of reasons for this. Some officers struggle with the mechanics of holding the shotgun and cycling it. Those same officers generally struggle with the rifle also, but it is more pronounced with the shotgun. Many smaller officers find that the shotgun's LOP is too great for them. This leads to compromising proper mount and, as a result, an unpleasant shooting experience. With the patrol rifle, the support hand can be positioned differently to alleviate some strength issues, and the LOP is easily adjusted.
Various studies conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Los Angeles police department and the New York City Police Department have concluded shotguns have the highest first round hit probability and are the weapons most likely to neutralize an assailant with one shot.
As I mentioned earlier, one of the concerns is an armored subject. In this respect the rifle reigns supreme.
And yes, I agree, the M4 is Tacitcooler. Ever wonder why WWII vets didn't run around all over the place with M1 Garands?
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the President... - Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln and Free Speech, Metropolitan Magazine, Volume 47, Number 6, May 1918.
Every Communist must grasp the truth. Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Our principle is that the Party commands the gun, and the gun must never be allowed to command the Party Mao Zedong, 6 November, 1938 - speech to the Communist Patry of China's sixth Central Committee
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