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RsqVet · July 4, 2007, 11:15 AM

Well actually the MP5 has been phased out by HK in favor of the UMP, however you make an excellent point about weapons and sensabilities.

BTW the brits and others still carry pistols as well, the MP5 is simply a popular choice in much of europe as one goes up the spectrum in weaponry.

Honeslty what I think one has to face is that there is not a whole lot of reason in much of what we do. For years many in high profile LE positionins in europe had sub guns while the only long arm in most of american LE was a pump shotgun. Furthermore in Europe despite being largley weapon phobic there seemed to be little worry about officers in high profile positions such as airports having slung subguns, while here most anything other than a pistol is kept hidden away in a cruiser or bag, besides in american LE the 1911 is offten knocked because seeing the hammer back in a holster scares the sheep in the streets. Many in the USA viewed a subgun as reckless or uncontrollable while many Europeans though shotguns a sporting firearm and either reckless or inhumane for LE use.

Thankfully in the US that is changing with more and more departments issuing carbines of one sort or another for use by regular patrol officers or allowing carry of personally owned, department approved carbines. I belive there have already been a few reports that have shown what a life saver this can be.

The current trend is more towards the 5.56 AR / M16 family of weapons... for better or worse they are highly functional as well, relitivly cheap and reliable and easy for most people to handle.

As for regular everyday carry, vs. available in the cruiser you will likely not see folks move away from a semi-auto pistol as many routine manuvers of LE and rapid response defense at arms length is best acomplished with a pistol. Furthermore whenever one carrys a long arm or sub gun and a pistol one has doubled the number of weapons one must retain from an attacker. For higher profile patrol use, I certainly would not be alarmed to see officers with slung subguns or longarms but again I think you will find more and more resistance to this amongst the american public except in times or areas of great crisis.... remember as a nation we forget things mighty quickly.

July 4, 2007, 11:15 AM	#2
RsqVet Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2005 Posts: 2,474	Well actually the MP5 has been phased out by HK in favor of the UMP, however you make an excellent point about weapons and sensabilities. BTW the brits and others still carry pistols as well, the MP5 is simply a popular choice in much of europe as one goes up the spectrum in weaponry. Honeslty what I think one has to face is that there is not a whole lot of reason in much of what we do. For years many in high profile LE positionins in europe had sub guns while the only long arm in most of american LE was a pump shotgun. Furthermore in Europe despite being largley weapon phobic there seemed to be little worry about officers in high profile positions such as airports having slung subguns, while here most anything other than a pistol is kept hidden away in a cruiser or bag, besides in american LE the 1911 is offten knocked because seeing the hammer back in a holster scares the sheep in the streets. Many in the USA viewed a subgun as reckless or uncontrollable while many Europeans though shotguns a sporting firearm and either reckless or inhumane for LE use. Thankfully in the US that is changing with more and more departments issuing carbines of one sort or another for use by regular patrol officers or allowing carry of personally owned, department approved carbines. I belive there have already been a few reports that have shown what a life saver this can be. The current trend is more towards the 5.56 AR / M16 family of weapons... for better or worse they are highly functional as well, relitivly cheap and reliable and easy for most people to handle. As for regular everyday carry, vs. available in the cruiser you will likely not see folks move away from a semi-auto pistol as many routine manuvers of LE and rapid response defense at arms length is best acomplished with a pistol. Furthermore whenever one carrys a long arm or sub gun and a pistol one has doubled the number of weapons one must retain from an attacker. For higher profile patrol use, I certainly would not be alarmed to see officers with slung subguns or longarms but again I think you will find more and more resistance to this amongst the american public except in times or areas of great crisis.... remember as a nation we forget things mighty quickly.