They use a 9MM pistol with a 12 lb trigger pull (yes that is the correct term). However, this is pretty standard for a double action pistol (double action meaning a pull of the trigger cocks and releases the hammer). It's
not necessarily true that a hefty trigger pull is a bad thing for marksmanship shooting. (One thing to keep in mind is that they use DAO (double action only) pistols, which means the trigger pull is constant between shots (as opposed to a DA/SA which has a heavy first pull then significantly lighter subsequent pulls). A DAO trigger is actually SIGNIFICANTLY easier to fire accurately than a DA/SA trigger.)
Anyway, pat, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they made the wrong choice in opening fire on him (especially considering the gunman pointed his gun at them). I'm just saying these two (and in general, all police officers or anyone who carries a firearm) should have their shooting capability carefully scrutinized, and based on all the stories you hear about police negligently and/or inaccurately firing their weapons, this doesn't seem to be happening. Instead, when one of these sorts of incidents happens, it tends to be justified and swept under the rug.
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Jon`C, can you provide me with a reference on your definition of max effective range? I researched it after you provided it, and you're at least partially right (I did find references to the 50% accuracy), but from what I can tell it's 50% accuracy for an "average" shooter, not a "properly trained soldier" (who in my mind should be far better than "average").
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