Do police officers also have assault rifles? And in what circumstances do they use both shotguns and assault rifles? (Is it when they are persecuting someone armed with a shotgun and rifle?)?
Yes, many police officers have “patrol rifles.” We don’t call them assault rifles, because we are not out to assault anyone or anything. However, when faced with a suspect that has a rifle, you want to meet his firepower with equivalent or greater firepower. Bringing a pistol to a rifle fight, is a bad idea.As to whether we grab a shotgun or rifle, it is situational and by discretion. The patrol vehicles with my particular police department, have a locking gun rack between the front seats, and that rack holds both at the same time.Picture source: Google images. Blue weapons that are shown are non firing training weapons.
How much ammunition does a typical police officer carry? If she or he needed more in a gunfight, what is the practice?
I carried a Smith & Wesson semi-automatic 9mm as my last duty weapon. It held 12 rounds in the magazine plus one racked in for a total of thirteen in the gun. Two more 12 round magazines were on my belt, so that was 37 rounds on my person at all times. This was standard for our agency as the minimum. In addition, we had the option to keep extra magazines in our vehicle. We all had a loaded shotgun with extended tube to keep more loaded than a typical civilian shotgun can hold. People on a response team had access to rifles.There were zero shots fired on duty within either PD where I worked during the yeaes when I worked (1982–1991). I later worked for Texas DPS after law school, but a huge state police agency is a different thing altogether from local police work. They encountered things like drug runners for cartels and people smugglers.As has been said, most officers retire without ever firing a gun on duty outside of the range or putting down an animal in an emergency. (In some states, sadly serious collisions with overturned livestock transports happen far too often.) Of the officers I worked with who had shooting incidents on duty in earlier years (1970s), they did not fire many rounds. Back then they had revolvers with six rounds, and reloading a revolver was done by hand typically two at a time the way that we were trained. I was told that was one reason for carrying a back up pistol, reloading was more time consuming than drawing the second gun to get five or six more shots.Statistically, “gunfights” by officers are at close quarters and involve fewer than 10 rounds fired by them. With modern semi-automatic pistols holding more rounds the reload is very unlikely in all but the rare instance with things like getting caught up in a big robbery. Even then, if there are any shots fired at police, back will be called from patrol plus a response team with more powerful weapons and more ammunition for everyone will be notifies as well. The initial officer or two may be trying to stay safely behind cover and watching to ensure the shooter doesn't get away before more officers arrive.
Are law enforcement officials allowed to own any gun?
Federal and local law enforcement personnel have to follow the same laws as everyone else. There are only 2 ways to legally own a restricted firearm. 1) file for a manufacturer FFL with a title 3 sticker...basically you would be able to own and manufacture automatic weapons, silencers, etc but would only be able to transfer them to a government agency. Automatic weapons build after the late 1980's cannot legally be sold to a private citizen. 2) find a title 3 dealer who is willing to sell a restricted firearm, apply to the batfe for a NFA tax stamp for said weapon/accessory and purchase the item. Certain law enforcement officers are issued automatic weapons to carry with them so as to maintain a constant state of readiness...such as officers on SWAT teams, but they do not own the weapons. The department still maintains ownership over the weapons. Ordinary police officers are not normally issued automatic weapons...the M16 type rifles that are often seen in their cruisers are semiautomatic variants or just plain old AR15's. To elaborate on the private ownership of automatic weapons: In the late 1980s, the anti-gun elements in the government got together and constructed an act which basically capped the amount of automatic weapons available to the public. In order to do that, they banned the sale of restricted weapons manufactured after that date to private citizens. That means that if you want to buy an automatic weapon, it will have to have been manufactured before that law went into effect. That is why a legal automatic weapon will commonly go for over $10,000, because there are so few on the market. So if youre hoping to buy an authentic SAW, youre out of luck unless you happen to own a title 3 gun shop. The most common, legal weapons that can be privately owned are automatic M16 lowers and MP5's.
Can any security guard/body guard carry an automatic weapon?
The only Agencies I have heard of that carry select-fire weapons were contracted security agencies to nuclear power plants and some Govt. facilities. But this was years ago and that may have changed. These were weapons that were carried "on-duty" only and turned in at the end of a shift. Any citizen can purchase a select-fire weapon. But they need to apply for a Class III license, submit to an FBI background check and have a letter of approval from the Sheriff of the County where the person lives. The person must also pay a tax on the weapon, it can only be a weapon that was manufactured before 1986 and submit to unannounced inspections to the premises where the weapon is stored. Even if it is a residence.
Does the NYC police department issue pistols that are double-action only that have a trigger pull of 12 pounds? Aren't they more inaccurate?
Yes, the NYPD only authorizes double action only pistols with 12 pound trigger pulls. Putting aside the technical aspects of striker fired guns, there is exactly one type of pistol which should be double action only: The shrouded hammer pocket revolver. They have their own important little niche market but trust me, they're difficult to shoot past sneezing distance. The only things that make NYPD guns slightly easier to shoot more accurately than pocket revolvers are a longer sight radius and heavier overall weight.Don't get me wrong, I like double action triggers. My primary sidearm is a Ruger GP100. The double action pull on my GP100 is long and very smooth. It pulls right around 10 pounds. When shooting unsupported or moving I'm actually much more accurate shooting the GP100 in double action than single action. Most people I've instructed are the same way. But as soon as you give me a barricade, tree branch, door frame or some other piece of cover to steady my gun on, I'm going to cock my GP100's hammer back into single action. When shooting from a supported position, single action triggers allow for a much greater level of accuracy. Having a gun that can go between both single action and double action gives you as the shooter extra options. You may decide between the two modes of fire depending upon your needs in any particular situation.By allowing only double action only guns with 12 pound trigger pulls, I am led to believe that the NYPD doesn't trust its officers or doesn't care to train its officers on how to use the additional option of a lighter and crisper single action trigger pull. That's a huge disservice in my opinion. There's no practical reason to intentionally make a trigger pull that heavy either. It only decreases a shooter's ability to make accurate hits. In an urban environment, accuracy is especially critical because there's almost always something on the other side of a bad guy should the police officer miss.
Can NYPD personnel buy Assault weapons for recreational use and home defense after the SAFE Act? Can they still use these weapons after retirement?
No, they can’t, because there is actually no such thing as an “assault weapon”. There are, however, assault rifles. But alas, they can’t own an assault rifle without a Class 3 permit. An assault rifle, of course, is a rifle with select fire enabling it to operate in full automatic mode. An AR-15, for example, does not have this capability and thus is not an assault rifle. An AR-15 is a standard semi-automatic that has a couple of ergonomic features and a certain “look”. Not even all military M16’s and M4’s are assault rifles, because they aren’t all capable of fully automatic fire.