PMCI - September 2021

impossible to comfortably and discreetly wear through the
myriad of duties I performed as well as concealing off duty.
The most important things I learned about survival and
tactics came from two of the department’s old war horses
named Sgt. Don Pixley and Lt. Curtis Pittman. These two
gentlemen were widely renowned for their great experiences,
knowledge and stories. These days, both honorably retired and
still lend their advice and wisdom to young officers from time
to time. For me, lessons learned came unofficially, as it was
regularly implied that having a gun when “you don’t have a
gun” was always a better option than actually NOT having one
with you. As confusing as that may be, this sort of follows the
old saying about “Doing the right thing, isn’t always doing the
right thing.” If you’re still with me to this point, the rest of this
article will be a breeze.
Both Sgt. Pixley and Lt. Pittman had a treasure trove of
last resort options from hidden knives to revolvers stuck in a
boot. (One even had a sawed-off shotgun hidden beside the
toilet in his bathroom.) Keep in mind, these items may have
been unaddressed by policy but were not meant in any way
to be used in the same capacity as the notorious “throw down
weapon”. Anti-law enforcement folklore would have you
believe every cop in the old days used in case a criminal did
not have a knife or gun after acting against them. Last resort
weapons are tools meant to be used in the worst-case scenario
in order to save a life.
Lt. Pittman was notorious for catching Deputies standing
around with their hands in the pockets and would dress them
down for not being on the razor’s edge ready to spring into
action to defend their selves. LT would step up to the officer
at bad breath distance and spout off, “Unless there’s a gun
attached to that hand in your pocket, you’re just recreationally
playing pocket pool!” One’s guess would be that this was a
residual of the good Lt’s Army days leading into Vietnam.
Timing is everything they say. By working off duty jobs, it
afforded me the rare expendable cash to take advantage of
being able to purchase a Ruger LCP when they were originally
released back in 2008. This was the first new pocket pistol
design to hit the market since the questionable KelTec .32
Auto. Being it was from Ruger, my level of confidence in the
design and function was considerably higher than based on my
experience with anything from KelTec up to that point. With the
addition of a quality pocket holster, any time I would ever get
caught with a hand in my pocket, I was indeed holding onto my LCP.
During my tenure carrying the original LCP, I met Candace
and eighteen months later we were married. During that
interim, our weekly date nights consisted of range trips. Having
grown up in an old school Italian family, Candace was no
stranger to firearms or shooting. At the time she and I met, I did
not own a lot of handguns outside my issued sidearm, mostly
rifles having grown up hunting. Between my Glock 26, Ruger
MK III .22 and the LCP, there was not a lot for us to choose from
FIREARMS - RUGER LCP MAX