I'm a firearms instructor for a police dept in NE Ohio, and was wondering if there are any departments that allow the use of personal weapons (ar-15) on duty ?
We currently have stock mid lengths with no optics, no  rails, no grips, or lights. Several of the officer's have personal ar's that are better equipped and would rather use their own.
I checked with our state trainers, OPOTA, and they basically stated they don't have an official "no" policy for this. Our chief is onboard, but wants to know if anyone else does this.
Just wondering if  there is anyone out there, or in Ohio, who currently has a personal weapon policy.

Sorry, I thought this was the secure forum.

My agency has 10.5" Rock River SBRs with fixed iron sights and Aimpoint PROs (awesome move by our Dept.), single point slings, and cheap Fenix WMLs in almost every fleet car, but authorizes the use of personally owned rifles. I use a BCM 11.5" SBR with an Aimpoint PRO, Surefire Fury in a LaRue mount, 2 point Sling, LaRue rail, and Magpul STR stock, . There are a mix of reputable manufacturers floating around the Dept. with those that use their own rifles; BCM, DD, Colt, a few Rock Rivers, and one Sabre Defence. One guy had a 16" LMT piston gun, but upgraded to a 11.5" BCM.

I don't have the exact policy in front of me to copy/paste verbatim, but I do recall some of the requisites. 1) Must be of a commercial manufacture (Colt, DD, BCM, LMT, Rock River, etc.), no "bubba" guns, no personal builds. 2) Must be chambered in 5.56/.223, 3) Minimum barrel length of 10.3", Maximum 20". 4) fed from detachable box magazines. 5) Iron sights are mandatory but Optics (I have only seen Aimpoint and EOTech in the field) are encouraged. Optics on patrol rifles must be 1x power, but we are working at getting DMR setups written into policy. One guy is working on fielding his ACOG, some get around policy by using 3x Magnifiers (Aimpoint, EOTech, Primary Arms). 6) Patrol Rifles must have slings and WMLs (weapon mounted lights).

Our Dept. gives a lot of latitude when it comes to customizing a Patrol Rifle. The only things I can think of that are Forbidden are Select Fire trigger groups and Painting Rifles. Suppressors are being T&E'd and written into policy now.

Yes, those restrictions make a lot of sense, thanks

We can carry personally owned rifles as long as they are not parts guns.  We can put lights and optics on them as desired.  

We also have rifles we can get issued and I'll probably get a department gun eventually (currently carry a personally owned one).  If mine gets taken into evidence, I'd rather it be a department gun instead of my own.

The Indianapolis Metro P.D. allows personally owned rifles.  They must be of quality manufacture and they are inspected and shot through a qual before they are authorized.  The firearms training section has the authority to de-authorize a rifle if it has issues during training and proves unreliable or inaccurate.

We are allowed to use our own, but there is one in every cruiser, so I leave mine at home.  If we choose to use our own, you need to qualify with it, and it is subject to armorer's inspections, same as department issue.  I have qualified with mine, mainly just in case I have to respond from my home and don't have time to stop at the PD and grab a cruiser.

I work in a small, rural dept. We're allowed to use our personal weapons, both rifles and handguns, probably even shotguns but they have to be approved by the chief or firearms instructor. Before I switched departments, I had qualified with my Mini14 and that was also approved when I got to the new dept. I also carried my own G22 for about 10 years.

Until we finally got the AR's in racks up front in the cab, things were interesting. We had the rifles bought and delivered by the time I came to the new PD. But there was no policy and little ammo to get people familiarized enough to be effective (and competent in a bad situation) so they just sat in the vault. I was the only officer carrying a rifle for our PD. Eventually we got them into the cars (after some training) but they had to be in a case with a breakaway tab in the trunk, even my own rifle had to be secured that way. I eventually got to the point that I felt very comfortable with ARs enough that I just stopped bringing my own and would grab an AR if a situation warranted it.

From the people I've talked to, I'm glad I finally stopped carrying my own firearms at work. Last year I switched to the dept issued G22. Even though the issued sidearm only has the plastic stock sights (I had night sights on mine). From what I've gathered, though unofficial, if I were to get into a gunfight with someone and injure or kill them (or worse, a noncombatant) my firearm would be seized by the state investigatory agency and I'd probably never see it again.

The flip side of that argument is that if you're able to outfit your issued or personal gun as you prefer it; use it in a gunfight and go home at the end of your shift, it's money well spent, even if you never see your investment again. While I haven't completely abandoned that concept, I'm not often in the position to buy guns on my budget, and at this time in my life I'd rather not lose my own stuff when my dept issues stuff that I can tweak here and there to make it more suitable for what I might have to do with it.

Our department issues Colt SBR's with EOtechs, but you have the option of using a personal 16" AR in 5.56 if you desire. It just has to be inspected by the armorer and you have to qual on it.

we can carry personal AR's and handguns, as along as they are 1) Quality AR's (Colts, S&W, Rock River etc)  with a 16inch barrel, semi auto, if it has optics there can not be magnification, slings, ligths etc are all G2G, SWAT can carry their SBR/Full Auto's 2) Handguns must be a Glock 22 or 23.

Dept issues Glock 23's to all officers and we have S&WMP15's as our pool AR's.

Backup/Off Duty handguns can be any quaility semi or revolver in .38, .380, 9mm or 40cal.

Must pass quals with all guns bi-annually.

J-

Damn double tapped

J-

we can carry whatever we want as long as it is approved by the chief.

Not an officer but one person in our PD carries a 686P.

We carry personally owned handguns, rifles, and shotguns. There are set requirements for each.

We are issued Glock 22s, and Colt, or Bushmaster rifles. Personal rifles and handguns can be used with the Sheriff's permission. Everyone else is carrying the Glock, while I carry one of my 1911s. Several are carrying personal rifles.

We can carry approved handguns in 9 40 or 45 and rifles in  Caliber: .223 Remington, .308 Winchester, 300, 338, 30/06 or .30 Carbine, 7.62 x 39, 9mm Luger, .357 Sig., .40 S & W, 10mm or .45 A.C.P., 6.5, 6.8

Daytona Beach Police Department in Fl authorizes personal AR's.  You will have to contact them to get a copy of their policy.

This.  The department issues a few shotguns and fewer rifles, but most carry their own.

We can carry personal firearms that are on the "approved" list of caliber/brand. Officers are required to be trained/qualified with any weapon they carry.


IE if you carry an AR you have to take an AR class and qualify with it. Etc. Caliber must be 5.56 and must use department issue/approve rounds. Etc.


Awhile back we had an officer shoot someone with a personal AR and a non departmental approved round. It wasn't an issue because it was a good shoot, but I'd imagine if any mistake would have been made/any innocent would have been hurt that officer would have been in a bit of trouble for shooting a non-department approved round.

I was using my personal rifle when I first started (Stag AR, Aimpoint, DD rail, Surefire light, Magpul VFG/grip/stock, BFG sling), then showed up to work one day and got told to leave it in my truck and I was issued a bone-stock Bushmaster with no optic, light, or sling. No explanation as to why.

I'm issued the AR, an 870, a Glock 22, carry my own personal backup gun (S&W 642), and will be qualifying with my own Glock 19 to keep holstered between the passenger seat and center console...

My last dept, I carried a Sig 556. For Optics, I used either a Acog TA44 or Burris XTR 1-4.

Check your email for info

My old PT agency allowed personal ARs
My new PT agency is open to the idea so I am submitting a policy proposal this week
My FT agency has said for ears that they'll allow personal rifles but always seem to push my policy submissions to the back burner

Thanks for all the info

We can carry any personal rifle as long as it's 5.56/.223.  We have a guy that carries a Mini-14, one that carries a Steyr AUG A3.  The department issues Sig 556's to full-time deputies if they want one.  I carry my OTS CMMG M-4 clone.

My dept doesn't issue any firearms, handguns or rifles, and let's us choose pretty much anything that's a 9mm, 40, 45, 357 sig. We're not allowed to tinker with the internals and use it on duty unless it gets approved and we can qual on it. No NFA items though.

I'll just say my dept has a sort of d*** waving competition on who can own the most expensive 1911. A lot of Les Baers, Wilsons, and maybe 1 nighthawk.

My old agency you could carry your own. Caliber had to be on a approved list. Rifle either 5.56 or a 30 cal cartridge. Couple of guys rocked ak 47.

These are personally owned. The breacher hasn't been used on duty, only because it would rust too easily in the trunk. (I may take an agency-owned 870 and Cerakote it.) I also carry my own SIG Sauer P226 9mm. My agency will issue a Glock 22, so most elect to carry those. A few have G34 and 35. One other deputy has a SIG P229. I keep my AAC M4-2000 available in the unit also. I had it noted that I qualified with it attached, and its s/n.



We are also allowed to modify the M16A1's from 1033/LESO with our own parts, as long as they're armorer-approved. No full-auto, except a couple SWAT guys. We rendered them semi by swapping for AR safeties.



The only thing they've really flip-flopped on over the years are single-action 1911's. I think they're currently authorized.



We will have some M14's soon as well. A couple guys are considering modifying them to EBR config. I have a Sage Mod 0 stock waiting for mine.

Email sent

As far as the most unusual policy- the LASO allows personally owned tasers to be carried on and off duty.

Some rural Alabama SO's all but encourage personaly owned weapons for wildlife dispatch.  Our SO (I won't say which one)  considerers the use of a unqualified, personally provided weapon while on duty against non human targets (and not used to influance the behavior of humans) to not be a use of force.  Lots less paperwork and radio calls.

We carry personal AR's, they can't be NFA weapons, no magnified optics, iron sights, and has to be chambered in 5.56 or .223.  The rifle also has to be factory built, no kits or parts guns.

If we can qualify with it, we can carry it. We have to provide our own duty weapons.

Pic of mine as set up for duty use (plus a sling).

I am a LEO in NE Ohio as well. We are allowed to use our ARs as long as we qualify with them. PM me if you want any specific info (might take a while to get back to you as I don't check my .mil address to often).

I am not our firearms instructor but can get you in contact with ours if you have any questions.

We require all officers to attend the OPOTA AR Basic Course (not sure of exact title) before we qual with them.

We can, most in my area can also

Senior RO/armorer has the final say so.

I carry my own, it's a parts gun, and he doesn't like it, but allows it because it puts bullets in the same place over and over again.

We can carry personal AR's and shotguns on duty. You can have your AR in pretty much any configuration as long as it is quality gear and you can qualify with it. Personal duty handguns are a no-go. Personal back up guns are good to go as long as you qualify with it.

My personal AR, an 11.5" BCM, rides in my overhead rack on duty.