Quote Originally Posted by mikefmich View Post
Good reads, hope you continue Ray.
Okay, you asked for it. Next page in my scrapbook!

I always looked forward to the annual firearms qualification course at the range in Rouge Park. The course changed slightly each year, so each year was a new challenge. I was always above average; sharpshooter with the .38 revolver. There were five categories you could end up with:

Expert
Sharpshooter
Marksman
Qualified
Did not qualify

While I made sharpshooter every year and try as I did, could never top that elite category of Expert. This was reserved for the top 3% of the department. But sharpshooter went to the next 10%, so it wasn't anything to sneeze at.

There was one year I thought I had cracked the Expert rating when I saw a whole bunch of holes in the black. When the range instructor tallied up my target, though, he came up with 380 points out of a possible 300. The guy next to me had been shooting at my target by mistake. So the whole thing was disqualified; I had to shoot over, and once again missed the Expert rating. Stuff happens.

Today's police officers use the 9 mm automatic weapon -- the Glock, I think they're currently using -- in Detroit. I really feel this is a mistake; automatics are not safe weapons in my view. Too easy for accidental discharges, and they do happen. Glad I always had the .38 special in my day.

For what it's worth, I never had to fire a shot on the street during my career. I'm glad for that. The only shots I fired on the street were into some badly mangled dogs that thought they could easily cross a freeway. Put them out of their misery and hauled them to the dog pound at the foot of 24th street for proper disposal.

I used to think back on my days at Mackenzie High School. I was about to take a Latin test, and I had to raise my hand because I didn't have a pencil. The old biddy teacher snorted and asked, "Well, does a policeman ever forget his gun?" Wish I could find that old *****. Yes, he does! I did it twice, showing up for roll call with an empty holster.

As I said, stuff happens.