Trunk Guns

Runcible — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:31:46 +0000

Cheaper Than Dirt has a great post about which rifle to keep in your car:

To understand where the concept of a trunk gun came from, let’s go back a few years. Traditionally, farmers and ranchers often had a ranch rifle hung in the back of their pickup truck. The role of the rifle was to enable the easy elimination of varmints, or to be used to put down injured horses or livestock. Nowadays, many farmers and ranchers still keep a durable rifle hung in the window or stashed behind the seat for the same reasons. But in addition to the traditional reasons for toting along a truck or trunk gun, many people in urban and suburban environments see the usefulness of having a rifle somewhat readily available in the trunk of a car for self defense and general preparedness. For preparedness minded individuals, the trunk gun is often paired up with a BOB (Bug Out Bag).

The article mentions several rifles, including my beloved Kel-Tec SUB-2000. Check it out here.

Why Didn't The Richmond Cops have Rifles?

Runcible — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:52:28 +0000

In the wake of the Haywood Hendricks shoot-out I posted a question about patrol rifles to Twitter but got this reply from the official Richmond Police Department account:

RichmondPolice @richmondguns We appreciate your interest, but we don't discuss tactics or tactical plans because of their sensitive nature.

Fair enough. I researched it on my own, but didn't find much. Based on a forum post at a police community site, it seems that "tactical" police officers, i.e. SWAT team members, have M-16A rifles, and that the Richmond Police Department is seeking to outfit more officers with M-16As over time.

Why is this important? For one thing it's much safer for police officers to have access to rifles when they have an expectation that they will be confronting a violent offender. One police officer and writer has this to say about patrol rifles:

It’s simple: Only a fool will knowingly take a handgun to a gunfight. In the event you haven’t figured it out, we in law enforcement carry handguns not because they’re effective, but because they are portable. While the police handgun can bring about rapid incapacitation, this type of effectiveness is a direct result of shot placement, which is difficult to achieve during the fluid, rapidly changing activity commonly known as a gunfight. I have spent my entire adult life studying the art of gun fighting, and I’m convinced long guns are far superior to handguns.