Glad you added the last part Charles; I thought I was gonna have to call you on LEO bashing.Charles L. Cotton wrote:Let me see . . . have I ever heard of a CHL shooting the mirror in his bedroom? . . . Ah, no I haven't. Do I remember fellow officers shooting the mirror in the squad room while practicing their quick draw? . . . As a matter of fact I do, more than one. Do I recall a fellow officer shooting his briefcase sitting on the front seat of his car? Ah . . . yes I do! Do I recall an officer having an AD when he reholstered with his finger on the trigger at dept. qualifications? As a matter of fact, yes I do. Do I remember COPS drawing their revolvers and automatics at dept. qualifications only to find green "leather corrosion" on the muzzle. Again, yes I do! Do I remember any officer . . . well, you get the idea.
If anyone thinks COPS are master pistoleros, you haven't been around many COPS. There is no more reason to distrust a room full of CHL instructors than there is to distrust a room full of COPS. In fact, if the COPS aren't firearms instructors, there's a lot more reason to fear them than the CHL instructors. Except for a relatively few officers, COPS can't shoot and their gun handling skills are deplorable. Ask any experienced shooter who is a COP and they will agree. We used to actively recruit COPS to shoot our IDPA matches and we gave up because they didn't want to be "shown up by civilians." The COPS who do shoot with us just shake their heads.
A friend who spend 28 years with Houston PD said it best; if you see a COP unsnapping his holster HIT THE DIRT! This came from a guy with a lot of gun fighting experience.
Chas.
Edited to add: This is tongue-in-cheek.
These are very true statements. My brother was a cop in a department for 30+ years, and Chief for 6 of them. He saw several ND's that occurred with officers 'playing' with their guns. A lot of cops many times don't shoot except at semi-annual or even annual qualifications, and then when they shoot they barely pass. There are also those that 'think' they are gun experts and prove they aren't when they end up having a ND. And, even if you are very familiar with them, you can have make mistakes. He had an ND by the armorer when he was routineing their Glocks; the bullet passed through a wall into the break-room on the other side and into the microwave (must have been those super strong magnetic forces emitted from the microwave that pulled the trigger of the Glock and not the armorers booger hook
). LOLEven in my 4 years as a LEO I saw one ND during qualification, and know of one while re-holstering.
So, IMO, like Charles stated, keeping your gun concealed, being very familiar with safety rules and running them through your head constantly, and being a 'gun' person keeps most CHL's from having issues.