Tomorrow's Handgun: Ensuring the Right Gun for All Military Law Enforcement Officers
Abstract
Almost three decades ago, the U.S. Military selected the Beretta M9 as the standard issue handgun for all Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen. This handgun was designed to meet the needs of all service members despite the differences in the handgun needs of various job functions. The purpose of this paper is to ensure the M9 replacement takes into consideration the specific handgun needs of the military law enforcement community. It will employ the evaluation methodology to determine if any of the three most popular commercially available GLOCK handguns, the 17, 21, and 22, already used by a majority of civilian law enforcement officers, would be the best choice for this subset of the military population. Its key findings demonstrate greater similarities exist between military and civilian law enforcement than those of military law enforcement and other military job functions when it comes to handgun training, use, and physical characteristics. This papers key recommendation is that the military should follow the lead of the civilian law enforcement community when selecting a handgun. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates how issues such as ballistics, international treaties, and domestic laws would not inhibit the U.S. military's selection of a commercially available GLOCK handgun. Finally, criteria will be measured, against these three popular GLOCK handguns, demonstrating why they might be a viable option in the U.S. military's handgun purchasing strategy.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2016
- Accession Number
- AD1041186
Entities
People
- Brian A. Ozden
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College