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Editor’s note: This article is part of Police1’s Firearms Week, which examines whether officers are equipped for the threats they may face today and tomorrow — from capacity and deployment speed to distance, accessibility and real-world firearm limitations. Thanks to our Firearms Week sponsor, KelTec.
When we asked officers where their duty setup falls short, one answer came through louder than the rest: distance. Nearly 45% of 178 Firearms Week survey respondents flagged “distance beyond typical handgun range” as a limitation. Even among officers who were very confident in their setups, more than a third checked the distance box.
When asked to improve one aspect of their setup, officers most often pointed to a pistol-mounted optic. The next most common requests were greater accuracy at distance and access to a patrol rifle. Together, about half of respondents asked for improvements that would extend their effective range.
The survey’s top problem and the requested fix point to the same issue. A pistol-mounted optic can increase the range at which an average officer delivers accurate pistol fire. That matters in the scenarios officers described: fights starting before anyone can reach a rifle. One respondent worried about “a rapid deployment where I could not retrieve a rifle” and having to make a distance pistol shot in a hostage situation. The optic bridges that moment.
| RELATED: Is your duty weapon enough for today’s threats?
So what’s in the way? Not the technology
Only 9% of respondents identified equipment or capability as the biggest gap for officers right now, the second-lowest answer. But these officers are not asking for exotic hardware. The friction, in their own words, is in policy manuals and budget lines.
The open-ended responses read like a catalog of institutional speed bumps. One officer said their agency flatly prohibits mounting pistol optics. Another noted that not every officer has a red dot and asked the department to purchase them and provide transitional training. A third said officers must buy their own weapon lights and holsters, out of pocket and unreimbursed.
Others described patrol rifles stored in a safe at the office, even though all cars are outfitted to secure a long gun. Some cited racks requiring a key to unlock, policy caps on ammunition and a rifle certification process more burdensome than the handgun process.
That context puts the survey’s sunnier numbers in a different light.
On paper, access looks excellent: 87% of respondents report having a long gun available in their vehicle, and 82% are authorized to carry a backup handgun. But “available” and “authorized” are doing heavy lifting. When equipment is held back by a key, a safe, an unfunded purchase or a prohibition, the agency, not necessarily the officer in the moment, has the capability.
| RELATED: Why reload efficiency matters when your handgun runs dry
A modernization story, half-finished
The picture that emerges is of a profession in transition.
Officers have absorbed the lessons of the pistol-optic era; agencies have been less consistent. Policy restrictions were identified as the largest gap by 16% of respondents. In the small, low-confidence group, policy and equipment were cited far more often than training. At the same time, the most commonly cited gap overall was training and repetition (38%). That reinforces a key point: issuing equipment without transitional training is a purchase, not a capability.
There are signs the transition is already underway.
One respondent reported that new Glocks with Aimpoints are on order. Another asked simply for a “department-issued red dot for handguns.” The survey suggests most officers are not waiting for the next innovation. They have identified their most pressing tactical limitation — and they can see the solution in plain sight.
In many cases, it sits behind a budget request or on the far side of a policy revision. What they’re asking their agencies for is not a new idea. It’s the training and equipment needed to do the job.
| NEXT: Why every patrol officer should have a rifle
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