I suppose I'll stick with my Models 19, 21 and 14; they don't usually stovepipe, so why should I take any chances?

Caution: this is a newspaper report; we don't know what might have been omitted by the editors.

Regards


Milwaukee News


Milwaukee Police Department Find Problems With Its Guns

Milwaukee Police Department Has To Replace Guns




MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee Police Department found that there is a serious problem with its guns.


Officer Vidal Colon was injured over the weekend in a shootout, in which his gun jammed.


The police chief has known about the problem for a year, but he is now taking immediate action following Saturday’s shooting.


The chief sent a memo to the entire police department about the weapon problem.


On Saturday, Colon responded to a report of a man armed with a gun near 36th and Scott streets.


Colon fired his gun 13 times, and the suspect, Louis Domenech, shot back six times, refusing to drop his weapon, said police.


Both men were hit, and police have been investigating the shootout. They learned that one bullet casing had stovepiped, or jammed, in the officer’s weapon.


Police said stovepiping can be caused by technique depending on the position of the gun.


But, the memo to the department revealed that the problem could be with the gun itself.


"We had experienced a number of issues on the range with our issued Glock model 22, .40 caliber duty pistol magazines, which represents 45 percent of our issued weapons," said Flynn in the memo.


The chief became aware of the problem in January 2008. Since then, "Glock has replaced 2,700 pistol magazines at no cost to the Milwaukee Police Department," said Flynn in the memo.


The memo also said that the department addressed the issue with officers during a 2008 in-service firearms training session.


But, according to the memo, 300 weapons have been transitioned while 600 remain.


On Thursday night, training division personnel are exchanging the magazines in the remaining 600 firearms.


The memo went on to say that due to an abudance of caution, the academy will be operating 24 hours a day for the next three days or until the magazines have been replaced.


Flynn also said the protocol in issuing the magazines made the most sense because the only malfunctions reported were taking place at the shooting range.
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