Philly airport wheelguns

[American1776]

Last week at philly airport I saw a uniform Leo with a revolver. I think he was philly PD. It had pachmyer grips. This is the second Leo I've seen at philly airport with a revolver as a duty weapon. This officer didn't look particularly old, so I wonder if they are allowed a choice between revolver or auto.

Anybody know the story on this? I'm curious what model they carry and what policy is in place.

[philadelphia patriot]

I know you have to be grandfathered in to carry a revolver. I have no idea which Smith and Wesson model they issue.

[Carson]

The PPD switched over to the Glock as the standard issue firearm around 1994/5 (?)

Prior to that there was a pilot program in 1988/89 where officers were provided with city owned Glocks. After that you could buy your own Glock if you wanted to carry one. All academy classes got Glocks and as funds became available, you could trade your privately purchased Glock for a city one.

The transition to semi autos was totally voluntary and many officers who were issued revolvers (.38 cal S & W Model 10 and later Stainless .357 S & W) chose to keep them. That number has dwindled by attrition to probably about 200-300 officers.

So if you see someone with a revolver, they came on sometime in the early nineties. If you see someone with a privately owned Colt, they somehow got out of the retirement home and should be returned ASAP

[knight0334]

Discussed a number of times..

It basically comes down to what they have qualified with. Newer officers tend to qualify with semi-autos, so that is what they are issued. Older officers tended to qualify with revolvers, then either didn't desire to "upgrade" in qualifications, or failed on the semi-autos.

[Irwin Inhabitant]

Higher capacity .40 or 9mm for LEO who "spray and pray"? Or .357 stopping power for LEO with shot placement skills and good trigger discipline. Just a guess is all...

[Krichardson]

Higher capacity .40 or 9mm for LEO who "spray and pray"? Or .357 stopping power for LEO with shot placement skills and good trigger discipline. Just a guess is all...

We can't have the good officers spraying bullets all over the airport and possibly hitting a few travelers if something goes down.

[soberbyker]

In 2012 I met this Philly traffic cop who still carried a revolver. Didn't want anything to do with the semi-autos most of the others had.

[MT1]

I'm not usually one to jump on a cop bashing opportunity but what the hell.

The REAL reason you see wheel guns in the airport is because there are so few dogs to shoot. The ones you see are service dogs and they tend to stand still for good shot placement.

[abner13]

Might have been airport security. Most airports have their own armed security officers. Probably not highly paid and guns aren't something the airport spends a lot of money on. After all , they don't want anyone to have to use them.

OTOH, I'd probably choose a Mod.66 .357 over a Glock 9mm if I had a choice.

[ERMedic]

They only carry .38 rounds in the .357 revolvers.