Article updated October 11, 2018
If you are a working police officer I assume that you regularly practice drawing your sidearm from your holsters - duty, back up and off-duty. Your neural pathways need to stay well practiced in order to achieve a smooth, swift draw. When you need to draw, you usually need to draw quickly.
Your handgun isn’t the only gun in your arsenal. What about your long gun - patrol rifle or shotgun? Here are some questions to assess your readiness and encourage practice.
1. How well are you able to release and deploy your long gun?
If you carry a long gun in a rack in your patrol car, when was the last time you practiced hitting the release button and deploying the long gun out of the car? Make sure to unload the weapon when you practice deployment, just like with your handgun.
If you had a squad parked next to you in a high-risk stop, would you be able to release and deploy your long gun, under stress, without pointing the muzzle at your partners or yourself?
If your long gun isn’t inside your squad do you practice getting it out of the trunk?
If your long gun is stored in a gun case have you practiced getting it out safely and quickly, under stress in low light conditions? If the case has a zipper closure I would suggest attaching a cord or zip ties on the zippers to make them easier to grab under stress when fine motor skills can be affected by stress.
You may want to use a bright color to increase visibility in low light conditions.
2. What is your long gun qualification or Proficiency check?
Does you qualification begin with the weapon in the condition it will come out of the car in? In my years of service the long guns always had the magazine fully loaded, the chamber empty and the safety engaged.
If that’s your situation are you training to get your weapon in a safe position and charging the chamber with a live round?
If you carry a shotgun are you trained to immediately load an additional round into the magazine (when practical) so that your weapon is up to full-fighting capacity?
Failing to train with a weapon in that condition could result in a click instead of a bang in a situation where you desperate need it to go bang.
Being practiced and prepared with your long gun is just as important as with your pistol. Maintain that level of proficiency through regular practice.
