State police get new weapons

They fired hundreds of bullets and emptied dozens of magazines.

State firearm instructors even dismantled the guns, making sure troopers would be able to keep them clean and in good working order.

And now after weeks and months of testing, state police have started equipping their troopers with new Beretta Px4 Storm .40-caliber semi-automatic handguns.

"After rigorous testing by Maryland State Police experts, the Storm has proven that its simplistic design, safety features ... and overall dependability make it the firearm ideally suited for use by Maryland state troopers as they continue to serve and protect the people of our state," Colonel Terrence B. Sheridan, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, said in a prepared statement.

The 1,650 new double-action Storms, which are manufactured in Accokeek, Prince George's County, will replace 11-year-old Beretta 96D .40-caliber semi-automatic handguns.

And because of a deal worked out with Beretta, the new guns will not cost the state anything. Greg Shipley, a state police spokesman, said Beretta is letting them exchange their old 96Ds for the new Storms.

Different guns

City, county and state police officers all carry different guns, with bosses at each department saying they are happy with their sidearms.

And while county police have carried .40-caliber Sig Sauer P229 handguns for about a decade now, and city police officers have carried 9mm Beretta 92F handguns for even longer, neither department has any plans to upgrade.

"Basically, a gun is a gun," said Cpl. Tom Powell, a firearm instructor at the county Police Department Training Academy in Davidsonville. He stressed that officers inspect their guns every month, have them professionally inspected every year, and have them fully dismantled and rebuilt every three years to make sure they will work in the field.

"There are very rarely any problems," he said.

Hal Goldstein, owner of The Armory in Parole, said each gun has its advantages and disadvantages, though.

He said the Beretta Storms are made of a polymer frame that makes them lighter than the county and city guns, which are all metal.

That said, Mr. Goldstein said he likes the metal frames because he knows how they will hold up - pointing to a couple of Colt 1911s that are more than 80 years old, and displayed in a nearby case.

According to Beretta, the Storm features a spurless hammer, a rotating barrel and a special photo-sensitive coating that makes the gun glow in the dark.

While Mr. Goldstein said he would prefer a .45-caliber weapon, he said most departments choose .40-caliber handguns over 9mm pistols. He said a .40-caliber gun is bigger than a 9mm and is more likely to stop a criminal.

"You want something that will drop someone (in one shot), not something where you will have to empty a magazine," he said.

Mr. Goldstein said he believes the city's 9mm handgun is too big and heavy for its relatively small caliber.

Past problems

While police departments carefully test their handguns before issuing them to their officers, problems can creep up.

In 1997, city, county and state police traded in their old 9mm Beretta for new .40-caliber weapons- again at no charge to the governments.

Officer O'Brien Atkinson, president of the county police union, said officers ran into problems with how the guns ejected - or rather didn't eject - spent casings. Such a problem, he said, is called "stove piping" because the spent casing looks like a stove pipe in the gun.

The guns were quickly recalled, leading city police to revert back to the 9mm Beretta 92F, and county police began buying the .40 caliber Sig Sauer P229.

When it comes down to it, police officers rarely fire their weapons. And when they do fire their handgun, it is usually at a firing range.

County police, for instance, must go to the range twice a year, in spring and fall, to practice.

"There is more wear and tear from just carrying them, rather then shooting them," said Cpl. Powell, explaining police guns rarely wear out if properly cleaned and maintained. "It could be the officer's entire career - 20 years."

Still, Mr. Shipley said, 11 years on an officer's hip can take its toll on a weapon.

"The conversion to new weapons is part of our ongoing effort to ensure our state law enforcement personnel have up-to-date equipment," said Governor Martin O'Malley.