Historically, private citizens have, to a significant degree, modeled their sporting rifle choices after what their nation\u2019s military carries, and their handgun choices after what their nation\u2019s police carry.\u00a0 Among the cops themselves, the FBI is a major trend-setter, and at the state level, state police agencies tend to be bellwether \u201cadopters\u201d whose choices are often followed by county and municipal agencies within the given state\u2019s jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
When I was a kid, troopers nationwide carried revolvers. There were two brand choices, Colt and Smith & Wesson.\u00a0 In the state where I grew up, New Hampshire, the troopers carried big S&W Model 27 .357 Magnums with six-inch barrels in flapped swivel holsters.\u00a0 In Florida, the primary state police issue was a special-order, nickel plated five-inch barrel Colt Trooper (appropriately named, huh?) in the same caliber, in a cross-draw holster.\u00a0 And if you worked for the Illinois State Police or the California Highway Patrol, you had your choice of Colt or <\/em>Smith & Wesson, in .38 Special or .357 Magnum chambering. Not until 1967 did the Illinois State Police become the first major law enforcement agency in the USA to adopt a semiautomatic pistol, the 9mm Smith & Wesson Model 39.<\/p>\n A whole lot of water has since gone under that <\/em>bridge. Before the turn of the 21st<\/sup> Century, every state police agency in the country was issuing a semiautomatic pistol \u2013 like pretty much all the rest of the law dogs nationwide.\u00a0 My friend Mike Wood has been keeping track of issue SP handguns, and was kind enough to send me his current list.\u00a0 Here it is:<\/p>\n Alabama Glock 22\/23 (.40 S&W) To update the list, I believe Georgia has gone from the Glock 37 in .45 GAP to the Glock 17 in 9mm with Speer 124 grain +P 9mm ammo, and word is that South Carolina is also switching from the G37 to the G17.\u00a0 Texas troopers I talked with told me they were less than thrilled with the idea of going down from their powerful .357 SIGs to 9mm (in the SIG P320 version, not the S&W after all apparently). 9mm is the least powerful handgun US police are generally allowed to wear in uniform , and Texas troopers I\u2019ve talked with are clinging to their .357 SIG P226 pistols for so long as they\u2019ll be allowed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Historically, private citizens have, to a significant degree, modeled their sporting rifle choices after what their nation\u2019s military carries, and their handgun choices after what their nation\u2019s police carry.\u00a0 Among the cops themselves, the FBI is a major trend-setter, and at the state level, state police agencies tend to be bellwether \u201cadopters\u201d whose choices are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4447","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-firearms"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4447"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4450,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4447\/revisions\/4450"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/MassadAyoob\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAlaska Glock 22\/23 (.40 S&W)
\nArizona FNH FNS (.40 S&W)
\nArkansas Glock 21SF (State Police), Glock 22 (S.P. Highway Patrol) (.45 ACP, .40 S&W)
\nCalifornia S&W M&P (.40 S&W)
\nColorado S&W M&P (.40 S&W)
\nConnecticut Sig P220 (.45 ACP)
\nDelaware Sig P229 (.357Sig)
\nFlorida Glock 37 (.45 GAP)
\nGeorgia Glock 37 (.45 GAP)
\nHawaii (DPS) Sig P320 (9mm)
\nIdaho Glock 21 (.45 ACP) or Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
\nIllinois Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
\nIndiana Sig P227 (.45 ACP)
\nIowa S&W M&P (.40 S&W)
\nKansas Glock 21 (.45 ACP)
\nKentucky Glock 35 (.40 S&W)
\nLousiana Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
\nMaine HK USP (.45 ACP)
\nMaryland Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
\nMassachusetts S&W M&P (.45 ACP)
\nMichigan Glock 17 (9mm)
\nMinnesota Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
\nMississippi Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
\nMissouri Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
\nMontana Sig P229 (.357Sig)
\nNebraska Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
\nNevada Sig P229 (.40 S&W)
\nNew Hampshire S&W M&P (.45 ACP)
\nNew Jersey Glock 19 (9mm)
\nNew Mexico S&W M&P (.357 Sig)
\nNew York Glock 37 (.45 GAP)
\nNorth Carolina Sig P226(.357 Sig)
\nNorth Dakota Sig P320 (9mm)
\nOhio Sig P229\/P226 (.40 S&W)
\nOklahoma Sig P320 (9mm)
\nOregon S&W M&P (.40 S&W)
\nPennsylvania Sig Sauer P227 (.45 ACP)
\nRhode Island Sig P229 (.357Sig)
\nSouth Carolina Glock 37 (.45 GAP)
\nSouth Dakota Sig P229 (.357 Sig)
\nTennessee Glock 31 (.357Sig)
\nTexas S&W M&P (9mm) (currently having problems–under review)
\nUtah Glock 22 (.40 S&W) (with approved options in 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP)
\nVermont S&W M&P (.40 S&W)
\nVirginia Sig P229RDAK (.357Sig)
\nWashington S&W M&P (.40 S&W)
\nWest Virginia S&W 4566TSW (.45 ACP)
\nWisconsin Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
\nWyoming Glock 35 (.40 S&W)<\/p>\n