Police wearing revolvers in ballpark

Doug.38PR · September 2, 2005, 10:40 AM

Last week I attended an Astros ballgame at Minute Maid park in Houston. I was walking around and noticed that almost all the uniformed policemen stationed there were wearing revolvers (I think I saw maybe 2 or 3 out of 8 or so wearing Autos) One of them didn't even have speedloaders he had a case on his belt with bullets lined up inside it in front of his holster.
Is there some kind of policy that aims police towards carring revolvers at sports events or something?

ron8903 · September 2, 2005, 12:21 PM

Most likely what you saw was armed security

guntotin_fool · September 2, 2005, 03:28 PM

All depends. it may be that game security is a desired posting and seniority enters into it, you may have just been seeing the older police men on the force who are grand fathered in on using older weapons. There was just an article in one of the newsmagazines about this in NYC that the old guard have chosed the wheel gun over the newer autos.

tshadow6 · September 2, 2005, 04:16 PM

Reserve or part time police officers usually carry revolvers

Doug.38PR · September 2, 2005, 04:45 PM

no they were not security guards. They were Houston Police Department with the logo, badge, blue shirts, black pants and all.

Garand Illusion · September 2, 2005, 05:00 PM

I've seen a lot of Denver metro area cops who still carry revolvers. They're mostly the older guys, but I've seen some younger ones. Even at the airport.

The cops I currently know don't do this, but some years ago I knew cops who carried their (then standard) revolver in an open holster but with only a few rounds in it and the weapon they would actually use was an auto concealed. this way if their gun got grabbed they would know it wasn't really ready to fire but the BG wouldn't. If they got into an extended shootout where they might need the better accuracy of the larger revolver, they could finish loading it and use it as well.

There was some rule that would not allow them to carry it empty, but some were only carrying 2 bullets in their 6 shooter!

Eightball · September 2, 2005, 05:20 PM

Frankly, I think seeing any LEO with a wheelgun--even an 1873 SAA--is better than seeing them carrying a Glock :barf:

. More power to them for bringing back the days of ultimate reliability and firearms made of metal--not plastic.

Myself, never seen an LEO with a wheelgun....except maybe a sherriff (sp?). A buddy's LEO dad has an old .44 Mag (7.5" bbl, IIRC) he could carry if he wanted (he's got rank). I'd imagine that seeing such a beast of a handgun

would be a deterrent to most people. I'd like to see more LE offices give their officers a choice--the aforementioned plastic auto, or a quality wheelgun of their choice (in a specific, office-supplied calibre, of course).

Bob41081 · September 5, 2005, 06:39 PM

I'd bet that most of those carrying revovers also had on white hats and the ones carriyng pistols had blue hats. The white hats are Sgt or higher in rank and therefore generally older officers. I'm not sure of current HPD policy but as far as I know the dept has no dept standard gun but caliber policies. Officers supply their own gun.

Bob

Doug.38PR · September 5, 2005, 08:36 PM

Quote:

I'd bet that most of those carrying revovers also had on white hats and the ones carriyng pistols had blue hats. The white hats are Sgt or higher in rank and therefore generally older officers. I'm not sure of current HPD policy but as far as I know the dept has no dept standard gun but caliber policies. Officers supply their own gun.

I didn't know that about their hat colors. But, the ones I saw actually weren't wearing hats (except for the one on the field who I think did have a white hat).
I have been told that police graduates past a certain year are required to have a .40 caliber handgun. To my knowledge there are not revolvers in .40 caliber, which leaves them to choose between automatics.

Eightball · September 5, 2005, 09:10 PM

Quote:

To my knowledge there are not revolvers in .40 caliber, which leaves them to choose between automatics.

Don't you love the way .gov does things like that? They issue out "requirements" which aren't specifically banning specific kinds of weapons--just only allowing weapons which meet those criteria. For Example: "Must be plastic, cheap, and have a trigger safety mechanism. Must be 9mm. Must have a name which starts with "G""--but they don't specifically say "It's gotta be a Glock :barf: ". Same thing with military weapon adoptions, and military contractors ("Must be metal, accept either .357 Sig or .40, and barrel cannot exceed 5". DAO"--but not specifically saying "buy a SIG").

Tylden · September 5, 2005, 09:51 PM

This reminds me of a funny story I recently heard. A police officer that had a thing for irritating his superior officer showed up at the range to qualify with his black powder cap and ball revolver. LOL

I'm sure he probably had his service weapon with him somewhere, but you have to admit this is pretty darn funny

RsqVet · September 5, 2005, 10:49 PM

Hey the Smith 610 will work with 40 S+w (or 10mm) sadly I hear it has recently fallen by the wayside, however it's still around on the secondary market and could be one work around to the problem if someone really wanted to carry a 40 cal revolver --- BTW I'm sorry I ever sold mone loved it --- it's an n-frame and very fast with moon-clip reloads.

So far as the old guard and wheel guns, I used to live in Phily and vist NYC freqently and threre were a lot of revolvers still out there, I suspect many, having an intrest in guns forget that to the officer who carries everyday, the wepon just represents one more tool he needs, and untill proven inferior, he or she is unlikely to change, especally on departments where that change comes out of their pocket, as is the case in NYC and may other places.

So far as gorernment contracts --- whay do you want -- they try and distill down what they need, yeah sometimes it's awful specific but atliest if someone else wanted to try and meet that spec they could, if it's brand specific then it procludes that ever hapening, plus the specificity needs to be there becuse of all the companies and suppliers that love to screw the government --- take it from someone who has been mighty screwed at times it does happen very frequently on little BS things that eat away at a budget and cause massive frustration and heartache.

Eightball · September 6, 2005, 09:43 PM

Quote:

This reminds me of a funny story I recently heard. A police officer that had a thing for irritating his superior officer showed up at the range to qualify with his black powder cap and ball revolver. LOL

If LEO's around here started carrying those, I'd want them to get a raise.

Powderman · September 7, 2005, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Reserve or part time police officers usually carry revolvers

Where?

Here, Reserve Officers usually carry a Department approved sidearm, most of the time it's what the full timers carry.

Our Department is pretty easygoing in that aspect--if you qualify with it, AND it's .38 or larger, you can carry it.

My duty gun is a Colt Enhanced 1911. I carry a G27 for backup.

Doug.38PR · September 7, 2005, 09:46 AM

Quote:

If LEO's around here started carrying those, I'd want them to get a raise.

I can just see a Texas DPS officer (state trooper) carrying a .44 Colt Walker Dragoon strapped down against the inside of his car door and another between the seat.

Those things would probably stop a fleeing car

The .44 Walker Dragoons were first made in 1847 and elevated the pistol to prominence among firearms as they were widely used by the Texas Rangers (which the DPS are an offshoot of) against Mexican soldiers, bandits and Commanche Indians. They typically carried two either on their belt or strapped on each side of the saddle (They weigh about 4.5 pounds). Lonesome Dove character Augustus McCrae carried one in the TV miniseries. (Although I noticed he that it looked like he suddenly was carrying something smaller when he rode down into teh Kiowa camp to rescue Lorena. No way he could have wielded a Walker to shoot down all those Commancheros and Kiowas so swiftly.)

September 2, 2005, 10:40 AM	#1
Doug.38PR Junior member Join Date: January 18, 2005 Posts: 3,298	Police wearing revolvers in ballpark Last week I attended an Astros ballgame at Minute Maid park in Houston. I was walking around and noticed that almost all the uniformed policemen stationed there were wearing revolvers (I think I saw maybe 2 or 3 out of 8 or so wearing Autos) One of them didn't even have speedloaders he had a case on his belt with bullets lined up inside it in front of his holster. Is there some kind of policy that aims police towards carring revolvers at sports events or something?

September 2, 2005, 12:21 PM	#2
ron8903 Senior Member Join Date: January 20, 2005 Location: south florida Posts: 217	Most likely what you saw was armed security __________________ eyes,ears open. mouth closed

September 2, 2005, 05:00 PM	#6
Garand Illusion Senior Member Join Date: March 4, 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 1,278	I've seen a lot of Denver metro area cops who still carry revolvers. They're mostly the older guys, but I've seen some younger ones. Even at the airport. The cops I currently know don't do this, but some years ago I knew cops who carried their (then standard) revolver in an open holster but with only a few rounds in it and the weapon they would actually use was an auto concealed. this way if their gun got grabbed they would know it wasn't really ready to fire but the BG wouldn't. If they got into an extended shootout where they might need the better accuracy of the larger revolver, they could finish loading it and use it as well. There was some rule that would not allow them to carry it empty, but some were only carrying 2 bullets in their 6 shooter! Last edited by Garand Illusion; September 3, 2005 at 12:05 AM.

September 2, 2005, 05:20 PM	#7
Eightball Senior Member Join Date: August 31, 2005 Location: On my Computer Posts: 289	Frankly, I think seeing any LEO with a wheelgun--even an 1873 SAA--is better than seeing them carrying a Glock :barf: . More power to them for bringing back the days of ultimate reliability and firearms made of metal--not plastic. Myself, never seen an LEO with a wheelgun....except maybe a sherriff (sp?). A buddy's LEO dad has an old .44 Mag (7.5" bbl, IIRC) he could carry if he wanted (he's got rank). I'd imagine that seeing such a beast of a handgun would be a deterrent to most people. I'd like to see more LE offices give their officers a choice--the aforementioned plastic auto, or a quality wheelgun of their choice (in a specific, office-supplied calibre, of course). __________________ Own (among others): S&W 620 RRA 16" Middy AR15 M1 Garand, July '42 M1 Carbine, Inland '43

September 2, 2005, 03:28 PM	#3
guntotin_fool Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2004 Posts: 1,446	All depends. it may be that game security is a desired posting and seniority enters into it, you may have just been seeing the older police men on the force who are grand fathered in on using older weapons. There was just an article in one of the newsmagazines about this in NYC that the old guard have chosed the wheel gun over the newer autos.

September 2, 2005, 04:16 PM	#4
tshadow6 Senior Member Join Date: June 26, 2005 Posts: 619	Reserve or part time police officers usually carry revolvers

September 2, 2005, 04:45 PM	#5
Doug.38PR Junior member Join Date: January 18, 2005 Posts: 3,298	no they were not security guards. They were Houston Police Department with the logo, badge, blue shirts, black pants and all.

September 5, 2005, 06:39 PM	#8
Bob41081 Member Join Date: June 4, 2004 Location: Houston,Tx Posts: 45	I'd bet that most of those carrying revovers also had on white hats and the ones carriyng pistols had blue hats. The white hats are Sgt or higher in rank and therefore generally older officers. I'm not sure of current HPD policy but as far as I know the dept has no dept standard gun but caliber policies. Officers supply their own gun. Bob

September 5, 2005, 09:51 PM	#11
Tylden Member Join Date: July 25, 2005 Posts: 57	This reminds me of a funny story I recently heard. A police officer that had a thing for irritating his superior officer showed up at the range to qualify with his black powder cap and ball revolver. LOL I'm sure he probably had his service weapon with him somewhere, but you have to admit this is pretty darn funny

September 5, 2005, 10:49 PM	#12
RsqVet Senior Member Join Date: February 20, 2005 Posts: 2,474	Hey the Smith 610 will work with 40 S+w (or 10mm) sadly I hear it has recently fallen by the wayside, however it's still around on the secondary market and could be one work around to the problem if someone really wanted to carry a 40 cal revolver --- BTW I'm sorry I ever sold mone loved it --- it's an n-frame and very fast with moon-clip reloads. So far as the old guard and wheel guns, I used to live in Phily and vist NYC freqently and threre were a lot of revolvers still out there, I suspect many, having an intrest in guns forget that to the officer who carries everyday, the wepon just represents one more tool he needs, and untill proven inferior, he or she is unlikely to change, especally on departments where that change comes out of their pocket, as is the case in NYC and may other places. So far as gorernment contracts --- whay do you want -- they try and distill down what they need, yeah sometimes it's awful specific but atliest if someone else wanted to try and meet that spec they could, if it's brand specific then it procludes that ever hapening, plus the specificity needs to be there becuse of all the companies and suppliers that love to screw the government --- take it from someone who has been mighty screwed at times it does happen very frequently on little BS things that eat away at a budget and cause massive frustration and heartache.