The pizza place a block away from my Philadelphia apartment is a favorite pit-stop for local on-duty cops. (This is also the pizza establishment where I ran into Jay Leno and realized that the immense size of his chin isn’t merely the product of video distortion. The damn thing could knock over buildings.)

Anyway, at first I incorporated this police/pizza phenomenon into the stereotypical ‘cops at the donut shop’ view, a perception that tags cops as lazy, pastry consuming, coffee swilling oafs. As it turns out, having a bunch of cops hanging out at a local food establishment is the best security measure a local resident can have. If something goes wrong, the cops show up NOW, regardless as to whether or not they were eating a cheese-steak when they received the call. And, besides, there’s only so many times you can drive your squad car or patrol bike around and around and around and around before you completely lose your mind. The last thing I want roaming around my neighborhood are insane, hungry, slightly dizzy, well armed men and women.

I go to this pizza joint a lot, and while the food is great, it also takes a fairly long time to make, thus giving me ample time to sit around, read the City Paper, and watch the cops move in and out. While each officer is unique physically, they always wear the same type of uniform, jacket, shoes, belt, etc. Male, female, big, small, fat, or skinny, they all look pretty much identical from a superficial view. Except for their firearm.

I’m far from a specialist when it comes to pistol identification, but I’ve seen sidearms ranging from the standard issue 9mm to the new 10mm models to the good ole’ .38s to semi-autos large enough to convince even the most hardened criminal that perhaps he should just apply for a job at Mc. Donald’s. It was the occasional officer who still carried a .38 Special who caught my interest the most. In a world where it seems that criminals are armed with whatever weapon they can get off the black market (i.e. just about any weapon they could afford), why in the world would anybody want to carry around such an antique?

So, one day when my meatball sub was taking an especially long time to complete, I decided to ask. I realized before I even submitted my inquiry that I’d have to do it with as much finesse as possible. You can’t just waltz up and say “Why you got such a crappy gun, Mr. Policeman?”, although this would probably generate less suspicion than me asking, “I’ve noticed that Philadelphia police carry a wide variety of firearms and thus was wondering: What system is utilized when determining the type of weapon an officer will or should carry?”.

“I’ve always wondered: Do you get to choose your own gun?” is the way I believe I actually phrased the question. This spawned an interesting conversation.

As it turns out, the officer initially purchased the 38 back when he was in training, and kept it for both sentimental reasons and the fact that, in reality, you rarely have to draw your gun, even in an urban environment. He said that semi-autos are swell, but felt that if you absolutely have to use your weapon, you’re gonna do your damndest to get things right on the first shot. You can’t just haul off and empty the clip of a 9mm in desperation, because every shot that misses your target could possibly strike a bystander. And if a situation ever arises during which you’d have to shoot somebody more than once to bring them down, the drugs in your target’s system would probably make they type of gun you’re firing a bit insignificant. He concluded by saying that he’s only drawn his gun in an adverse situation twice in his entire life.

So, why did I make you sit through this little personal flashback? Just to remind everybody that, when purchasing weapons for your PC, think about the history of the weapon, the way the character will utilize it, and whether or not they even need it at all.

And GMs, I beg you: When a player chooses to sacrifice firepower in the name of role-playing, be as gentle on them as the pseudo-reality world of Shadowrun will allow.