Police forces everywhere spend countless hours training their forces to navigate high stress situations involving the threat of violence. To do so, they often use blue training guns to simulate the operation of a weapon and the actions of a potentially violent criminal. Here is what you should know about the process and the tools that go along with it.
Gun Form
Guns used for training are typically made of rubber, but much care is taken to simulate the weight, shape, dimensions, and size of the guns they represent. This gives the professionals a very realistic sense of what it feels like to draw, handle, and operate the weapon. When it comes to gun training, there is no benefit to using a generic model. Because there are many different styles of gun and because they all have their differences, it’s important for policemen to have exact replicas of the gun they will use in the field. A Glock and a hand gun may not seem very different to a casual observer who just looks at the shapes, but the differences are significant enough that training with one type will not easily translate to handling the other in the field.
Gun Color
In addition to its associations with the police force, the color blue is widely recognized as a color of safety. This theme applies perfectly to the inert rubber weapons used in training simulations. The distinctive hue also distinguishes the dummy weapons from their real world counterparts, a crucial distinction when training is in process. Everyone from trainees to officers must be alert to their surroundings during a police training session, keenly aware of who is in possession of a real weapon and who is working with a model. Blue training guns make it simple and fast to ascertain at a glance who is training and who is equipped for a real emergency.
Training Simulations
These phony weapons may be part of training for new police recruits or periodic training to keep seasoned veterans sharp. Actors or other police officers may take the role of criminals and the officers, armed with their simulated guns, practice handling their weapons in various high stress environments involving weaponized criminals. The guns are an essential tool for keeping these exercises realistic, practical, and safe. Sometimes they employ accessories such as rubber magazines and flash bangs to go along with their blue training guns and heighten the practicality of the training and increase the realism of the simulation.
