50 Rounds!

Since I spend a good deal of time on the road I get to listen to a lot of talk radio. One of the things I've been hearing this past week is that a great many people cannot seem to get past the fact that the NYPD cops shot 50 rounds at the car which was attempting to run them down.

Many folks seem to believe that 50 shots fired just has to be excessive force.

OK, listen up. Here is the truth.

When you perceive that your life is in danger here is what you will do. You will shove your gun in the general direction of the threat and pull the trigger as fast as you can until the gun is empty. This is human nature. You will do it, I will do it. New York cops will do it.

It is possible to train people to the point where they will be able to fire two aimed shots then stop and evaluate the situation then shoot some more if the situation calls for it.

We call these people SEALS and Delta Force in the US. The SAS in the UK. GSG-9 in Germany and other names in other nations. To be able to preform like this under fire requires intensive training and almost daily practice.

NYPD does not train its officers to this level. It cannot afford to. To produce officers who could perform at this level with firearms would require them to devote almost their entire police academy experience to firearms training. Then they would have to spend at least 10 hours of their 40 hour work week on the firing range.

Five cops each with a gun which holds 17 rounds in the magazine plus one in the chamber and they only fired 50 times. This indicates extraordinary discipline, not recklessness or excessive force.