To clean and maintain
When speaking in terms of firearms training, an
often-overlooked topic is this issue of gun cleaning
and maintenance.
When I was in law enforcement, from the time I
entered firearms training in the academy until my
final training session as a cop, I was told “firearms
maintenance and cleaning is paramount.” If
RICH
you’re anything like me, you’ve probably tested
NICOLETTI that theory, going as long as you possibly could
without cleaning your gun. And if you’ve tried that
test and the gun never failed you, then not only are you lucky,
but you have partially proven to yourself that everything you’ve
been told is not true.
Hey, it’s our basic nature as cops to doubt everything we are
told. It’s what makes us good at what we do. I do have to tell you,
though, that you and I were both wrong.
Since beginning working at RTSP, I’ve obviously been exposed
to a lot more guns and a lot more people, all with different backgrounds. Some are law enforcement officers who do the bare
minimum to maintain their weapons, and others who have gun
cases worthy of carrying Cinderella’s glass slipper. Most of the
civilians take good care of their firearms. Either way, I have seen
a fair amount of malfunctions, by and large, due to dirty
weapons.
One common problem is the weapon being unable to go into
full battery. This is one of the less dangerous malfunctions. However, if you are in a gun battle and your weapon won’t go into full
battery and you need to get rounds off, quite frankly, you’re
screwed.
Another malfunction comes from poor ammunition