Only Polk's Bailiffs Armed

[Codger]

I am somewhat familiar with the invention that you mention, and I'm surprised it isn't more popular than it is. The only drawback that I'm aware of is if me an another officer were pinned down, I couldn't use his weapon (lets say he had been hit and I'm running out of ammo....I could still use his clip, however). The ring would prevent me being killed by my own weapon (which happens to a lot of police officers killed in the line of duty), and it would prevent a tragedy such as this courthouse killing.

There is one gun manufacturer that has a safety that prevents the gun from firing if the clip is ejected, even if there is still a round chambered. He claims to only carry this type of gun off duty. His scenario is that if he is fighting for his weapon and believes he would lose it, he can eject it and his gun becomes about as useless as a brick and cannot be used to shoot him or anyone else until the clip is inserted back into the weapon.

A case where an officer has to fire more than four rounds is pretty rare, I think you would agree. Most service pistols hold a stack of twelve or more. My dad was a Deputy Sheriff and he carried a Ruger revolver, with six spare rounds. I know that there is the feeling "what if" but for the most part that comes from the movies, or widely publicised one in a million incidents. I carried that same Security Six for years and never found myself under gunned.

And not presenting an accused person to a jury as already having been convicted of being a criminal is not a liberal or conservative idea. It is an American idea of justice. I don't believe in astrology either. No more than I believe in reincarnation. You get one chance to do this life right. You do it right whether you are deaf, blind, in a wheelchair, or a champion athelete.