cmdr_iceman71
Regular Member
There are several good reasons to carry a second handgun for defensive purposes. None are the exclusive province of law enforcement. Let’s examine them in detail.
1) The primary gun may be taken away.
In Kentucky, an armed criminal caught a uniformed police officer off guard and took away his Smith & Wesson 10mm service pistol. The lawman was able to access his concealed Walther PPK 380, a backup gun issued to him by his department, and empty it into his attacker. The criminal died; the officer lived.
2) The primary gun may be unusable because it is the object of a struggle.
In Ohio not long ago, a police officer found himself in a desperate battle for survival as his opponent struggled to take away his department issue Glock 22 pistol. Fortunately, the department had the foresight to issue every officer a Glock 27, a subcompact version of the duty pistol, as backup. In the last instant before the suspect gained control of his service weapon, the officer was able to draw his backup G27 and fire a shot into his would-be murder’s head, killing the assailant and saving his own life.
3) The primary gun may be empty.
Drawing a second loaded weapon is often faster than reloading the first when it runs dry. In Michigan, a woman and her husband were working in the store they owned and operated together when they were hit by multiple armed robbers. The felons shot and wounded the husband early in the encounter. The wife drew a double action revolver and shot back. Her gun ran dry, and she grabbed a second revolver with which she continued to return fire. That sustained fire allowed her to win the gunfight, saving her life and that of her husband, who survived his wounds. Their attackers were not so lucky.
4) The primary gun may malfunction.
In the South recently, a police officer died with a jammed pistol in his hand. Witnesses said he was struggling with his choked semiautomatic when his opponent, a criminal armed with two double action revolvers, shot him to death. The officer’s pistol, a popular brand famous for it’s reliability, had jammed part way through it’s 15 round magazine. The quick drawing and firing of a second weapon might have saved the officer’s life.
5) The primary gun may be struck by an opponent’s bullet and rendered inoperable.
This scenario is not so far-fetched as it may sound. Law enforcement training in this country was profoundly affected by a 1986 gun battle on the edge of Miami where two FBI agents were killed and five more wounded by two heavily armed criminals who were ultimately killed at the scene. Two of the seven agents who returned fire resorted to their backup handguns during that firefight, and the agent who put the final, fatal bullets into the criminals did so with his Smith & Wesson revolver after his Remington shotgun ran out of ammo. (Bad guys also resort to backup guns. One of the two cop-killers in that encounter fired rounds from a stolen Mini-14 Ruger rifle, his own Dan Wesson 357 Magnum revolver, and his partner in crime’s S&W 357 before he was finally killed.)
In that encounter, one agent’s Smith & Wesson 9mm auto pistol was struck by a 223 bullet and rendered inoperable. That particular agent did not carry a backup gun, and was helpless to defend himself when the suspect with the Mini-14 walked up on him and shot him to death. Twenty years later, in April 2006 the same phenomenon was observed in a Seattle gunfight. A city cop’s Glock 22 service pistol put a 40-calibur bullet into the cylinder face of a criminal’s Colt Officer’s Model Match 38 Special, rendering it inoperable. In that instance, the criminal fortunately did not have a second gun, and was neutralized by police fire.
6) The primary gun may not be as readily accessible as the backup.
In New York some years ago, an off duty cop in winter was carrying his primary handgun under two coats, and his backup Colt Detective Special snub-nose 38 in his overcoat pocket. Set upon by two armed robbers, he knew he would not be able to dig under his clothing and draw his duty weapon before being shot by the drawn gun held to his head. On the pretext of reaching for a wallet in his overcoat pocket, he got his hand on his backup Colt, then slapped the gunman’s pistol aside with his free hand as he drew and fired. His bullet went through the gunman’s brain killing him instantly; the accomplice fled, and was later taken into custody. The officer was uninjured, saved by his backup handgun.
In the Carolinas, a man with a hidden weapon approached a parked police car and opened fire at the officer through the driver’s window, wounding him. Seat-belted in place, the officer was unable to reach the service handgun locked in a security holster at his hip, but was able to access the Colt Agent back up gun strapped to his ankle. He drew from the ankle holster and returned fire, neutralizing his assailant. He survived his wounds and returned to full duty, saved by his back up gun.
7) The primary gun can arm only one good person at a time.
Let’s say you are confronted by multiple attackers but you aren’t alone either and thus can arm a competent companion with the secondary handgun so as to level the playing field or even tip the battle to your advantage; especially if only one of the attackers is armed with a handgun.
These seven reasons for a back-up gun are from Massad Ayoob’s book "The Gun Digest of Concealed Carry."
1) The primary gun may be taken away.
In Kentucky, an armed criminal caught a uniformed police officer off guard and took away his Smith & Wesson 10mm service pistol. The lawman was able to access his concealed Walther PPK 380, a backup gun issued to him by his department, and empty it into his attacker. The criminal died; the officer lived.
2) The primary gun may be unusable because it is the object of a struggle.
In Ohio not long ago, a police officer found himself in a desperate battle for survival as his opponent struggled to take away his department issue Glock 22 pistol. Fortunately, the department had the foresight to issue every officer a Glock 27, a subcompact version of the duty pistol, as backup. In the last instant before the suspect gained control of his service weapon, the officer was able to draw his backup G27 and fire a shot into his would-be murder’s head, killing the assailant and saving his own life.
3) The primary gun may be empty.
Drawing a second loaded weapon is often faster than reloading the first when it runs dry. In Michigan, a woman and her husband were working in the store they owned and operated together when they were hit by multiple armed robbers. The felons shot and wounded the husband early in the encounter. The wife drew a double action revolver and shot back. Her gun ran dry, and she grabbed a second revolver with which she continued to return fire. That sustained fire allowed her to win the gunfight, saving her life and that of her husband, who survived his wounds. Their attackers were not so lucky.
4) The primary gun may malfunction.
In the South recently, a police officer died with a jammed pistol in his hand. Witnesses said he was struggling with his choked semiautomatic when his opponent, a criminal armed with two double action revolvers, shot him to death. The officer’s pistol, a popular brand famous for it’s reliability, had jammed part way through it’s 15 round magazine. The quick drawing and firing of a second weapon might have saved the officer’s life.
5) The primary gun may be struck by an opponent’s bullet and rendered inoperable.
This scenario is not so far-fetched as it may sound. Law enforcement training in this country was profoundly affected by a 1986 gun battle on the edge of Miami where two FBI agents were killed and five more wounded by two heavily armed criminals who were ultimately killed at the scene. Two of the seven agents who returned fire resorted to their backup handguns during that firefight, and the agent who put the final, fatal bullets into the criminals did so with his Smith & Wesson revolver after his Remington shotgun ran out of ammo. (Bad guys also resort to backup guns. One of the two cop-killers in that encounter fired rounds from a stolen Mini-14 Ruger rifle, his own Dan Wesson 357 Magnum revolver, and his partner in crime’s S&W 357 before he was finally killed.)
In that encounter, one agent’s Smith & Wesson 9mm auto pistol was struck by a 223 bullet and rendered inoperable. That particular agent did not carry a backup gun, and was helpless to defend himself when the suspect with the Mini-14 walked up on him and shot him to death. Twenty years later, in April 2006 the same phenomenon was observed in a Seattle gunfight. A city cop’s Glock 22 service pistol put a 40-calibur bullet into the cylinder face of a criminal’s Colt Officer’s Model Match 38 Special, rendering it inoperable. In that instance, the criminal fortunately did not have a second gun, and was neutralized by police fire.
6) The primary gun may not be as readily accessible as the backup.
In New York some years ago, an off duty cop in winter was carrying his primary handgun under two coats, and his backup Colt Detective Special snub-nose 38 in his overcoat pocket. Set upon by two armed robbers, he knew he would not be able to dig under his clothing and draw his duty weapon before being shot by the drawn gun held to his head. On the pretext of reaching for a wallet in his overcoat pocket, he got his hand on his backup Colt, then slapped the gunman’s pistol aside with his free hand as he drew and fired. His bullet went through the gunman’s brain killing him instantly; the accomplice fled, and was later taken into custody. The officer was uninjured, saved by his backup handgun.
In the Carolinas, a man with a hidden weapon approached a parked police car and opened fire at the officer through the driver’s window, wounding him. Seat-belted in place, the officer was unable to reach the service handgun locked in a security holster at his hip, but was able to access the Colt Agent back up gun strapped to his ankle. He drew from the ankle holster and returned fire, neutralizing his assailant. He survived his wounds and returned to full duty, saved by his back up gun.
7) The primary gun can arm only one good person at a time.
Let’s say you are confronted by multiple attackers but you aren’t alone either and thus can arm a competent companion with the secondary handgun so as to level the playing field or even tip the battle to your advantage; especially if only one of the attackers is armed with a handgun.
These seven reasons for a back-up gun are from Massad Ayoob’s book "The Gun Digest of Concealed Carry."
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