Being qualified with whatever tools you need to do your job in any profession is sort of a must. In
TX we use the AR, the Remmington 870P and the S&W 65. I’ve already got an AR. An 870 is
actually pretty cheap, and I will eventually purchase a 65. There isn’t really an excuse to not be
competant with weapons, even if your agency wants to cheap out. A pump action shotgun will only run you
about 300 bucks at Wal Mart. 00 Buck is cheap.

There’s the way things are, and the way things should be.

It’s up to the individual to make up the slack where agencies fall short if you
really care.

well i would imagine the importance of qualifying at the range with your weapon would be that of not getting sued..you shoot a weapon non lethal that should be shot at lower extremities, and shoot that inmate center mass..guess what..you have issues, and guy looses an eye, due to birdshot..you got issues, your in public doing a tranport, your in ahopital lets say, your inmate attempts to get away, what do you..do you shoot him in the hospital…do unleash your oc….weapons training, prepares you to make these these types of decisions…responsible decisions…follow policy, provide safety for public ,staff and inmates….you need to to know how to load that 870 remmington, and unload it, when the inmates decided awww i don’t think i wanna play today..i just got done working at the training academy, and watched new cadets who never held a weapon, and seasoned staff, who don’t have a clue, because they don’t apply themselves..thats why they fail…we shoot the glock model 19, the remmington 870, TSU has all the other toys…which years ago when i was TSU, i had the opportunity to deploy some of them, 37mm, the big LA, we have the mini 14, the ar15…if officers are failing range and classroom instruction, it’s on them to get it together..there is no excuse for failure…this is not a difficult job….you can’t do the job without having a weapons card….it’s part of your uniform, and condition of employment…it’s like not having a drivers license..really…lawsuits….oo they will be brewing, when you discharge a weapon in public, and geezzz you don’t know where your bullet is going to end up…and by the way..you should know whats beyond your target…..it is what it is..the department usually gives you several attempts to qualify, and if you don’t you get sent to remdial..I don’t know nothing about that..lol……if you fail remedial..then things can get hairy for yas….you may be placed in an unarmed post..at your on expense you would need to go get some training..you will be taken out of uniform..disciplinary in extreme cases, or if your one of those people they wanna get ride of..it happens…progressive disciplinary will begin…it’s nothing nice…and since you only qual every year, unlike the specialty teams, chase,transportation,k9,TSU, they qual every 6 months…it pays to practice throughou the year…it’s fun..hook up with others that are shooters, heck i have an m44,m91,38 turkish mauser, romanian sks, an ak47,870 remmington,glock model 19, ..have fun with it……there is no excuse for failure

At my facility, we are required to qualify on the .38, the Mini 14, and the shotgun (of course, there are more toys for SORT). You must qualify to maintain your job, but they pretty much let you shoot until you qualify.

I wish we could get more firearms sessions. The state usually only budgets for 1 firearms training every 12 months, but this year we get 2. We actually aren’t allowed to check out weapons (even though there are more than enough in the Armory), and we can’t use the range at all on our own (the State doesn’t want the liability), which really sucks because the local PD, Sheriffs Dept, ICE, DEA, and National Guard can use it whenever they want to.

For the actual classroom material, we go over the same presentation every time. The only difference was last year. Due to state budget cuts, we just sat down at a laptop, viewed the slideshow on our own, then took a quiz.

I would like to know the importance of weapons certifications and how often should an officer fire to maintain certification.

I would also like to know if the officer is required to fire a certain weapon at work to qualify, should that officer be able to check that weapon out of the armory and go practice with it. Or should they be required to purchase their own weapon like the one they will fire at the range?
Is there a requirement for the training instructor to have a lesson plan and how in-depth should that lesson plan be. Should it be followed equally at every class?

The reason I am asking this is because where I work seasoned officers are failing their firearms training and if the answer to any of these questions above is yes are we opening our administration personnel up to a law suit from those who are let go due to failure at the range.

rflirt46@bak.rr.com