# is "he went for my gun" a standard police response? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 9, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216 "2015-04-09T15:18:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/21 "2015-04-10T14:40:22Z")
Well, considering that, in the US, guns are \*\*standard \*\*equipment for all police, that the \*\*standard \*\*of their job description is to be around criminal activity, and that risk of assault is a \*\*standard \*\*occurrence for them, yeah, I’d say it’s a standard response. Same as, _“I tried to avoid crashing the plane and killing everyone”_ is a standard response for airline pilots… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/22 "2015-04-10T16:20:34Z")
[Going from memory] Here in east Texas last week, a home video made the news of an officer punching a pregnant woman, hard, in the back. I can’t remember what was going on in the first place to kick off them being in her house, but during the initial reports of _why_ this happened supposedly had her possibly reaching for something inside the cabinet she was near in the kitchen. Fast forward a couple of days, and now the officer is saying exactly what’s mentioned in the thread title. Makes me wonder if that really is the ‘cover your ass’ go to explanation someone above said. In this particular instance, that take on the circumstance certainly seems circumspect to me. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/23 "2015-04-10T23:11:06Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > 1. Cops know that “he grabbed my gun” are magic get-out-of-trouble-free words, whether or not they’re true. - 1,000,000,000,000,000. I don’t know why it takes months to get through the local Police Academies. This is the only lesson they really need to learn. You want to commit murder and mayhem and STILL get your Civil Service pension at 41 after you do your 20? Learn the lesson " he grabbed my gun " and its magical companion " I felt unsafe ". ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/24 "2015-04-11T01:07:43Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > I thought the standard police response was ‘Stop resisting’? It’s like when squabbling siblings go “Stop hitting yourself”. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/25 "2015-04-11T01:43:19Z")
For BS traffic stops just say you smelled marijuana or that the car was swerving. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/26 "2015-04-11T04:15:23Z")
A few SF cops (including the night shift Captain in charge) got caught exchanging viciously racist texts. One was “use your pocket gun” (to shoot the ‘monkey’). It appears that the ‘throwdown’ weapon is alive and well. The newspaper did not find it necessary to explain the concept of “pocket gun”. And, aren’t backup pistols commonly worn in ankle holsters? If it isn’t a throwdown, why would you carry a loaded weapon in your pocket? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/27 "2015-04-11T04:26:01Z")
Ankle holsters can be awkward to get a gun out of. There are guns small enough for a pocket and holsters designed for pocket carry. I have no idea the numbers but some officers do carry a backup gun(and not as a throwdown). Some agencies even issue a duty weapon and a matching but smaller backup weapon. Example would be the full size Glock 22 (.40 S&W) and the pocket size Glock 27. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/28 "2015-04-11T07:44:47Z")
If the “pocket gun” is simply a back-up, why would he have said to use it instead of the duty weapon on his hip? This was saying “murder the black man” - and use something not on your hip (and can be easily traced to you). The “pocket gun”, given the usage, is one that cannot be traced to the person carrying it. Sounds a lot like “throwdown”. Hell, the first time I heard the word “throwdown” was on frigging TV show in the 80’s - a cop explains that sometimes you shoot a person because you thought he had a gun, but find out he was unarmed! (yeah, never happens) You NEED a pistol you can plant on the corpse so you don’t get into trouble which would take you away from your duty to protect all the _good_ people of the city, whom you love! ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/29 "2015-04-12T02:25:56Z")
Sorry, but this is bullshit. How often do you really think a cop actually lies about a perp going for his gun to cover something up versus how often a lowlife scumbag criminal actually does try and grab a cop’s gun? The cop is telling the truth 99.999999% of the time. Criminals are criminals. Get over it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/30 "2015-04-12T02:46:38Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Sorry, but this is bullshit. How often do you really think a cop actually lies about a perp going for his gun to cover something up versus how often a lowlife scumbag criminal actually does try and grab a cop’s gun? I have no idea. I have known kind, generous, good policemen, bad cops and assholes. I would probably be an asshole in such a difficult job. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2015, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216/31 "2015-04-12T03:33:03Z")
I’d think it would be the “low-life scum” who would best know the ins and outs of how to get dead around a cop. Even I know that trying to take a weapon is #1 (with a bullet) on that list. They may not yet be aware of the pistol-retaining technology of modern holsters (google is your friend), but it would take much experimentation to establish “try to take gun = dead”. Actually, I see an interesting trend here - all it took was for a black man to be elected President (twice) and all of a sudden, people start bitching about killig black men. The BART (SF Bay Area transit) cop who shot a black man while he was face-down and had his hands handcuffed behind him is himself black. There was some debate as to who was first to call the other _that word_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-he-went-for-my-gun-a-standard-police-response/717216.md?page=1)