I would bet that the vast majority of all NYPD officers never even touched a real firearm until after they joined the department and were sent to the range. After all, guns and gun owners are bad, right? [More]
That’s not far off from what a retired NYPD Sergeant and firearms instructor, whom I actually developed a cordial relationship with, told me over several evenings of drinks and cigars.
Re: We’re the Only Ones Inexperienced Enough
It used to be that most if not all of the colleges in NYC had small bore target teams and ranges on campus. From what I gather most High Schools in NYC had ranges and teams up through WWII and even later. When I was in my teens (1960s) I belonged to a jr program sponsored by the local police precent and on Saturdays would shoot at an indoor range using Savage Anschutz single shot target rifles. That all changed by the early 70’s when the government became more and more liberal/leftist. I would imagine that most of the recruits in the last 20 years never even saw a gun outside of TV or movies much less handled one.