14 Oct 02

We just completed and Advanced Defensive Handgun Course in the Midwest. We had a number of students join us from a large, local metro PD. This PD permits its officers to use virtually all handguns, except Glocks. The instructor staff (whom I had in the class) has been pushing for Glock acceptance, but to no avail.

The official cover story is that this department doesn't like "striker fired" guns. The real reason is that one of the department's "commanders" had an AD with a Glock as he was trying to put it back into its shipping container. Seems he pressed the trigger having neglected to unload it first! Being a product of our times, he, of course, assumed no personal responsibility for his stupidity. He, instead, blamed the gun, and Glocks have been blackballed ever since. The training staff is hoping he either retires or dies soon!

Another officer in the course was from a Chicago suburb which has a local ordinance banning the ownership of handguns. Like all such laws, it is fundamentally unenforceable. It is therefore not enforced and generally ignored by citizens and police alike. What a surprise!

/John