Firearms Use and the Police - A Historic Evolution of American Values (From Firearms and Violence, P 489-513, 1984, Don B Kates, Jr, ed. - See NCJ-96052)

• NCJ Number: 96065
• Author(s): F T Morn
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 25 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; Pacific Institute for Public Policy Research
• Publication Type: Historical Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Tracing the gun culture in the United States from the Colonial era to the 20th century reveals that the gun, while believed necessary for security and order, became a disruptive element which eventually resulted in the arming of police.

Abstract

Both British and American police began unarmed because of strong public feeling against an armed force. British police continued to be unarmed because general societal violence, and violence against police in particular, steadily diminished as policing became institutionalized. In fact, even early policing in America consisted of the unarmed citizen constable and nightwatch. By the 1840's and 1850's, American policing started to modernize, following the pattern of the London police. By the end of the 1860's, American society had become accustomed to gun usage as the result of the Civil War. Stolen or surplus military firearms proliferated and were cheaper than ever before. The escalation in arming the public continued throughout the 19th century in response to perceived needs in the eastern and midwestern corrupt urban areas and in the booming western frontier. The strong reluctance to arm American police was overcome only by the need to respond to ever-increasing violence. Yet American police attempted to look like British police well into the 20th century by keeping their weapons hidden. However, by the mid-1920's, the revolver had become a conspicuous part of the police uniform. A total of 68 footnotes is included.