Home All Dinosaurs, Revolvers and Old-School Law Enforcement

Dinosaurs, Revolvers and Old-School Law Enforcement

September 11, 2015

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Police Cross draw 1970 — NYPD Cross Draw 1970's

This week I have seen two dinosaurs in the news. At least two. Old school “coppers” who were carrying 6-shooters in 2015. Cue the keyboard commandos and the internet experts. Prepare to be lectured and belittled. Gird your loins for the criticism and tab checking. That group is as predictable as the “Situational Awareness Crowd”.

Chicago PD Officer Buying Food For Dumpster Diver Sept 2015. Note Holster.

And they would be, “right”. And out of that righteousness they will sleep soundly in their beds, wrapped in justification and snark, while others man the walls of their safety. NYPD reports out of 50,000 officers, just over 200 are still rated to carry the 38 revolver. That stat impresses me to no end. Coppers hanging on. I wear a knowing grin as I type these words: How much experience and history is represented in that group of 200 “old timers”?

38 Spl. K Frame. Glock Dreams of serving this long

But this is about six-shooters, right? Fire power. Reloads. Striker triggers and weight. I’m not going to pretend it’s as big of deal the kids make it out to be. In almost ALL cases, those who will deride the six-shooter in this picture were in diapers, or maybe not even a glint in daddy’s eye, when these heros picked up the badge and gun. They have spent the better part of 40 years walking a beat, working a shift, responding to alarms drops and coming home every night. Being a cop is more than a gun. It’s guts. It’s brains. It’s experience.

One day the 6-shooter folks will truly be but a memory of a bygone era. Where cops and robbers had unwritten rules and lived by the code of the streets. It was a business. They knew each other by name and never made it personal. Bell bottoms, The Jackson 5 and feathered hair. Oh to be cop on easy street back then? Well….you know that’s all bull$hit, right? It was never like that. The 1970’s were the height of leftist terrorism and targeted police assassinations. And the old-timers not only lived through it, and beat it back, they signed up for it. With a 6-shooter in hand.

The more things change…

Marky

www.tacticaltshirts.com

“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”