Better Than The Real Thing
Police departments and academies should use non-guns such as Ring’s Manufacturing’s Blue Gun, or non-lethal gas-powered model guns during all training exercises except when required on the firing range.
When using real guns for police training, there is always the possibility of accidental death or injury, as is reported occasionally in the media. The reason is that safe gun use requires complete concentration of the user, and oftentimes people get distracted and load a gun with live ammunition without thinking.
Real guns also have sharp edges on the front and rear sights that can injure officers during hand-to-hand or weapon-retention exercises.
Blue Guns are exact replicas of real handguns and long guns in terms of weight and size, making them useful for practicing holster drawing or loading at home. There are even plastic magazines that can be used in classrooms instead of real ones, thus easing student fears about accidental discharge.
Police cadets can also wear Blue Guns during their education and learn to avoid snags and how to guard against surprise gun grab attempts by instructors.
Departments should weigh the possibility of accidental training death when gauging the use of real guns against the safety and added benefits of Blue Gun models.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Police (09/04) Vol. 28, No. 9, P. 62; Spaulding, Dave .