Bill, I honestly agree BlackHawk definitely makes a great holster.. I have the Leg Rig - BlackHawk for my Sig 226 and love it !.. Guess My Sig 226 will be getting a new BlackHawk holster soon and my SIG 250 too (Hope they both fit into the same like yours, so I dont need to get 2). I will hit the Police Supply Store here soon .. maybe my 2011 BlackHawk Catalog will get here already, its been one month since I requested one..
Youre welcome for my info Bill.. although even with over 20 years of Law Enforcement Experience I still learn new things everyday ... if I can inform people of Using Safety in their daily lives... and the repercussions of making bad decisions .. hopefully it will save someone alot of headaches in their future..or they may need one of us for Bail ...
One example.. I had a shooting in the Mid 90's (Off Duty as a PO) was at a Bar
(Bar = Worse Place to Be when Involved with a Shooting - why so many carry laws DO NOT ALLOW CARRYING IN BARS) (Alcohol and Carrying Guns = Distort Your Judgment and make bad decisions)
Anyways here is one of my Shooting Stories..
I Worked a 10 x 6 pm tour.... was (RDO - Regular Day Off) off the next day (Thursday) ..so I went to my Local Bar that Wednesday Night like I normally do when I have off the next day.. got to the bar around Midnight (Yes I was armed with my Sig 226 Dept Issued Weapon with 16 rounds of 9mm 115 grain JHP, My Shield was on a chain around my neck that evening tucked in a sweatshirt from Temple Univ that my Cousin went too and a Blue Baseball Cap, Gun was tucked inside my jeans with No Holster) .. I had approx 2 1/2 beers the entire evening while at this bar..
Anyways.. the Entire Staff and Owner know I am a Cop as I patrolled that area the bar was located in since 1989.. I am sitting at the bar.. talking to a female
.. this bar was a College Bar with College Students ..I was 28 years old at the time of this incident and the Police Rules on carrying off duty at that time was "My Choice to Carry 24/7 anywhere I wanted within my Jurisdiction.. and this was "OK" for Bars too at that time..although the job recommended you dont carry in bars, but it was allowed" so there I am talking with a female in the hopes of "hooking up" and its is pouring rain outside like Mother Nature was dropping an Ocean over us.. I had to get up early that next morning to have "LoJack" installed on my vehicle cause I missed the appointment already two times.. so I was not drinking hard as I needed to get up early the next day to get this done on my vehicle... anyways.. There is a Bouncer at the Front Door checking ID's and several more inside at various locations.. its about 3:30am and "LAST CALL" was Sounded by the DJ.. at this point the Front Door is EXIT ONLY .. Nobody is allowed back in for No Reason.. (Bars Close at 4am in NYC.) A kid that was inside the bar earlier left and tried to get back in and told the Door guy his Friends were inside .. The Door Guy told this kid his friends will be out shortly as the Bar is Closing.. (It is still raining like cats and dogs) ... the Door Guy just then realizes that this Kid annoying him to try and get back in was the same Kid that Cut his Younger Brother's Ear in High School with a Knife when they were in a Fight.. this Kid at the Door was arrested for the Knife and Assault but the charges eventually were dropped by the District Attorneys Office... The Door Guy whistles for his Brother that was cut by this kid and points him out .. Both the Door Guy and his brother go after this Kid and started to beat this kid nearly to death outside the Bar...his friends start to come outside.. one of this kid's friends who was with him yells to the bouncer and his brother "If you dont get off my boy I am getting a Gun and Shooting you !" .... now with this being uttered.. one of the other Bouncers comes back inside the bar and tells me of the comment this kid made.. now being in Clubs and Bars.. the hot heads that Hoot and Holler all the trivial Threats are not the likely ones to come back for a 2nd round of trouble.. its the ones that walk away quietly that always worried me... anyways .. being a LEO .. I stopped talking to this female, told her I would be right back and dont go anywhere..as I exited the Bar .. I told a Bouncer DO NOT let anyone else leave the bar until I say so.. I go outside standing along side the small bar awning .. look left see nothing .. look right see the Door guy and His brother Beating someone up .. they are both on top of this kid who is lying on the ground about 3 store fronts down to my right as I exited the bar.. all of a sudden this dark two door sedan skreeeches up to a stop and parks at an angle in the middle of the street blocking an entire lane of traffic.. exits the car walks behind his vehicle and what I saw next made me Crap in My Pants.. I saw what so clearly looked like a (GUN) Revolver in his right hand..he had it by his side pointing down and walked over to where his friend was being beaten.. Took the Gun and Pointed it at the Door Guy and his Brother's head.. who exactly I dont know had the gun pointed towards him but it didnt matter.. this kid had a gun ! I take my shield out from around my neck to display it .. removed my 9mm from my waistband.. and Yell " POLICE ! DROP THE GUN !! " what this kid next lives with me everyday I wake up (even to this day... yes I am not exaggerating) He turns to his right (towards my voice) Starts to Lift and Point his Gun at Me ! and yells to me "
I WILL SHOOT YOU TOO ..YOU F**KIN COP!!" without one more millionth of a second I decided to fire my weapon... I fired one round at him...he fell back into the gutter near his car.. he was laying flat on his back ..arms extended out like a "cross" and his Gun was still in his right hand as I ran up on him and still having my gun pointed at him cause I did not know if the threat of death to my life was over yet...as I approached him .. he did a sit up like someone was holding his ankles down and started to point the gun at me again for the second time..!! and this time yelled out to me "
NOW YOU WILL DIE COP! " I immediately fired a second round Point Blank range into his chest.. the subject fell back onto his back again.. I then stepped on his right wrist and removed what appeared to be a .357 Revolver out of his right hand with my left (non gun hand) still covering this subject with my gun... as I stepped on this kids wrist with Blood coming out of his ear and right eye and water from the rain in the street washing over his body and face like a river and two holes in this kids chest.. he uttered " PLEASE DONT KILL ME ITS A FAKE GUN ! HELP ME ! " As he said that to me and I touched his gun with my hand, I automatically realized it was a BB GUN ! (Crossman BB gun - Model 357 Caliber with plastic wood grain grips - A Replica!! which at the time was not even loaded!) I said to the kid I had just shot " You Stupid MO...R - F..KER! ..at this time something told me to look towards where the fight started originally... I now see a person running at me full speed ! I am like Oh My God !? WTF is This Now??.. the male continues to run at me as I yell "POLICE STOP!" as he gets within arms length of me... I Crack This Guy So Hard across his face with my Gun he falls back and runs away.. it turned out later this guy was one of the friends of the kid I had just shot and the one also being beaten up... I Yelled at the Bouncer to call 911 - Officer involved shooting .. Need BackUp 10-13! Subject is Shot and Down and Officer has subject at Gunpoint and needs EMS (Ambulance) forthwith... I waited what felt like 2 hours for the 1st Police Unit to arrive.. it actually took 4 minutes or less for the Calvary to arrive.. Backup units came and so did EMS.. they took the kid I shot to the Hospital which was like 3 or 4 minutes away..where he later died 30 minutes later from the 2 bullet wounds he sustained. The kid that was beat up by the Door guy and His Brother went to the same hospital and was in ICU for a long time.. the District Attorney later filed charges on the two brothers that beat that kid up and they later plead out to I believe probation & with no jail time ? .. as for me .. I was brought to a Different Hospital for Trauma / Shock .. a Standard Procedure for an Officer Involved Shoot.. I have 48 hours to not talk to any Police Officials at the Scene until I consult with my PBA Union Reps. and Attorney, etc.. the rest is just Police BLAH BLAH BLAH Stuff.. I wont bore ya with .. during that time, the Police Dept Shooting Review Board evaluated my shooting and determined it was a Good Shoot .. I was placed on Desk Duty during the shooting investigation for approx 6 months.. I also went in front of the Grand Jury for Murder Charges during that desk time.. (Standard in any Police Shooting) and although I knew in my Heart I was right in my actions and also the Police Dept Clearing me.. I felt like I may go to Jail if this grand jury finds me indictable ? .. I was scared to death again, this time without a gun pointing at me but instead with these Jurors Looking at me and not a gun barrel.. well after my Testimony and everything in the Grand Jury, which went awesome after I was finished by the way .. the Jury Deliberated.. only 20 minutes and ruled "NO TRUE BILL" that was the best thing I could of ever heard in my life.. ! The Criminal Part was Over - Thank God!.. a year later when things were all nice again...here came a $30 Million Dollar Lawsuit for wrongful death, against the Police Dept and Me..and the City Hospital and the Bar.....The newspapers wrote "Why was a cop in a bar drinking and carrying a gun ..? .. he was drunk ... he was working at the bar...so many stories of me being at Fault... But it was OK for this Kid running around drunk & underage with Fake ID and carrying a gun (BB GUN) in his car with 2 pounds of weed inside.. etc etc etc.. I made the Newspapers (Few of them well known) and also the local front page newspaper every week for 5 months.. and when I was cleared in the Grand Jury and the Dept cleared me and restored me back to Full Duty ..there was one tiny newspaper article on about page 49 about 1 inch by 1 inch.. 4 sentences long.. The kid I killed had worse repercussions for me later .. it turned out we both had mutual friends in common.. and that didnt sit too well with them about my actions.. I had Death Threats .. Fake Bombs planted under my car .. graffiti on my garage door 'DIE PIG" .. everywhere I went locally I bumped into either someone that knew me and knew the kid I killed and was threatened every time I saw them....it was a bad situation.. I had to carry a dept. radio everywhere I went .. carry my gun EVERYWHERE.. cause it turned out this Innocent Child who was going to College and a Church Goer.. yada yada yada .. was in a Local Street Gang of about 200 members.. just lovely I thought .. the newspapers never once mentioned that the Kid I shot was only 20 years old with a Forged NYS Driver's License and was Intoxicated with a BAC over .20% and they found 2 pounds of Marijuana in his mother's car he was driving.. and empty CO2 cartridges and pellets all over the floor of the car..
The bottom line is .. if confronted with a Life & Death situation .. You are the One that needs to go home.. worry about the legal stuff later.. just if you do decide you do need to take Deadly Force upon someone .. MAKE SURE YOURE 100% IN THE RIGHT !!! ... BEFORE YOU PULL THAT TRIGGER !!!! Thats why I now carry my X-26 Taser.. Non-Lethal Weapons are the way to go now a days in my honest opinion.... yes I do carry my 9mm / Shotgun /
AR 15 Rifle (Sometimes), on Pick Up's if the need for force escalates to that point, but I pray it never will, but I wont think twice if I need to protect myself for one second..
Hope this was a good read for you and made you see what kind of things can pop up when you dont even expect them too.. all I wanted to do that night for was have a couple of beers to unwind from the job's daily bullcrap and hook up with that girl I was talking too.. (By the way .. I never got that girls # and after the shooting I totally forgot her name and never saw her again
)
Be Safe out there.. !