But this might not be practical if you carry a large-frame handgun and don’t have anywhere to conceal it. What you choose to carry on and off duty are largely personal choices, but you should consider the following: Probably the best backup gun to carry on the street is the same as your duty weapon. Given the current threat level to law enforcement, this isn’t a wise idea. Many lock their duty gun in their locker at the end of their shift and go home unarmed. But like the backup gun, I know quite a few cops who don’t carry one. For the most part you have no spare, so your off-duty gun is your only defense. This is even more important when it comes to off-duty carry. If the stress of a range qualification can cause these types of errors, what’s going to happen when you are fighting for your life? I’ve even seen a few cops actually drop their handguns by mistake. I’ve observed stovepipe malfunctions as a result of a weak grip-the kind of grip you might have in a close-quarters fight with a suspect. Add in the factor that under stress you are more likely to experience operatorinduced malfunctions.ĭuring range qualifications, I’ve seen officers accidentally hit magazine releases, unintentionally dumping fully loaded magazines. Even the best-made weapon is not reliable 100% of the time. Firing pins break, ejectors fail to eject, magazines malfunction, and so on. Guns, like all things mechanical, are doomed to fail. It will probably never happen, but if your duty weapon fails, are you prepared for it to happen at the worst possible time? What’s your backup plan if your duty weapon goes down during a gunfight? It happened at the worst possible time and place. The point of the story is this: I didn’t get a flat tire a block from my house or on a busy interstate with roadside repair just a phone call away. Sorry, cannibals, you’ll have to find someone else’s brains to eat! I pulled out the spare from under my truck, took off the flat tire and replaced it with the new one. I started imagining a The Hills Have Eyes scenario, with the mutant flesh eaters getting ready to come out as soon as the sun went down. We had no food, a little water, and not much else. It was near dusk and there was no one in sight. About 25 miles down the road, I got a flat. ![]() We were the last people to leave that day. The reservation was pretty far off the beaten path-about 50 miles of rough, rockstrewn “roadway” away from the main road. We decided to see the sights along the way: caverns in Tennessee, the famous Route 66, and a Native American reservation in New Mexico. So I left for California with my wife and her trusty police dog in tow. I was demobilized and allowed to return home. I had just completed a tour in Iraq and was stationed at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. I was also serving in the Army as a Reservist. In late 2003, I’d been a cop for three years. It might be a donut spare or a full size, but they all have a spare. ![]() When I ask why, I get answers like, “Never needed one” or “This one always works.” Here’s my response to that: Every car I have ever owned has a spare tire. On average, in my organization, only one in four officers actually carries a backup. AS a firearms instructor, it never ceases to amaze me how few officers carry a backup gun.
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