Uechi-Ryu.com

Hello Van.

I read in either the Herald or the BG the other day that the some local police will be carrying handguns equipped with a combination lock. The lock is located somewhere near where the trigger finger so that all a policeman has to do when he draws his weapon is to punch a few buttons in the right sequence to unlock the weapon and make it fireable.

Isn't this just stupidly brilliant! I wonder how many dead and wounded policemen will be lying on the ground in their own pool of blood because they couldn't punch the right key-code in time. Maybe a plastic card they could swipe-in across the length of the barrel would be faster.

Maybe they should make another law requiring criminals who carry guns to do the same to even the score and make it more fair for the police.

Allen

Allen ,
The globe article did say that most likely police departments will allow the gun carried on duty by the policeman to be unlocked !

It is a known fact by police trainers that the cop under stress not only would not be able to manipulate the clicking mechanism of the safety [ loss of dexterity under the chemical cocktail] , he might even forget the combination or the very fact the safety is on when faced with deadly force ! That is why cops hate safeties !


The lock would go on when the policeman takes his gun home with him for the night so it cannot be fired by his kids , should they get a hold of it ! Now you can argue , why doesn't he just unload the gun? For the same reason he will forget to put the safety on >> more often than you think when he gets back home ! People tend to get complacent around guns or tools used day in and day out ! The lock may not be foolproof but it is a step in the right direction to reduce some accidental shootings ! One policeman once , awakened in the middle of the night by the roar of a gun shot in his bedroom , and found that his wife had taken his loaded revolver from his holster, he had left on the night table , and had blown her brains out !

Van

Van,

I think this type of safety arrangement (the home combo lock) is good in the home. Kids get into everything. I have read of a number of accidents where a child finds a revolver under a pillow or on the bureau, or even hung over the kitchen chair in a shoulder holster. Even if it is unloaded they find the bullets and may have seen dad load and unload the pistol many times so they know how to do it.

Too many accidents or irrational behaviors occur in the home with guns, and yet many treat them casually as if they were inate objects (they are really, but some people get an awful rush of control or power or change personality when they start fondling firearms.).

Gun laws. Gun laws, as a rule don't go after the killing problems we have in the street, but I like the idea of locking a weapon in the house unless there is good reason not to.

Allen