Question for cops and military, current and former

[Alpo]

Do you routinely refer to a pistol as "your sidearm"?

 

I know what it means when I hear someone say that, but it just always sounds so stupid to me. Like someone calling their mother and their father Mother and Father, instead of mom and dad or some other familiar affectionate term. It just sounds weird to me.

 

NCIS episode. High school kid's wearing a bomb. Jenny is going to go down there and get involved, and Ducky tells her that she would only be in the way down there. She starts to ask how he knew she had been thinking about it, and he replied, "You're wearing your sidearm".

 

I'm rereading Longmire, and he never refers to a pistol or a gun, or even a weapon. "I drew my sidearm", "Did you bring your sidearm?", "He pulled his sidearm".

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidearm_(weapon)

 

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth]

[Dirty Dan Dawkins]

I wonder if this sort of language has more to do with regional differences in dialect or the language associated with the profession itself. 
Kind of like when Goober grew that beard and everyone went on about how smart he looked so he changed the way he talked to fit the persona of a learned man.

[Okiepan]

The Gunners used to refer these as your PDW , Personal Defense Weapon 

[Tex Jones, SASS 2263]

In Rio Bravo, JW called a pistol a "short gun", when asked why he carried a rifle.  "...some were better than me with a short gun..." or words to that effect.

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

Regional dialect and rank could both play into it.

Might be leftover from Police Basic instruction: "sidearm" in front of a jury sounds more professional than gat, roscoe or blaster, for instance.

I know we were told to excise the term "hollow point" from our vocabulary, and drop it down a nice friendly well somewhere: we were taught to refer to our duty ammunition as having a "controlled expansion projectile."

Defensive terminology.

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

Just now, Tex Jones, SASS 2263 said:

In Rio Bravo, JW called a pistol a "short gun", when asked why he carried a rifle.  "...some were better than me with a short gun..." or words to that effect.

Brother Tex speaks truly ... I'm trying to recall if it was Elmer Keith or Skeeter Skelton who spoke of the "shortgun."

[Pat Riot]

In the Navy I heard and used the terms "sidearm" or "weapon" in reference to a .45 worn in a holster on a gun belt.

 

If I am taking to someone wearing a gun belt and holster, like a police officer or security guard I may ask them what the side arm of choice is.

 

It doesn't sound "stupid" to me as it is a proper term and I have yet to have anyone say "Sidearm? What's a  sidearm?"

[Badlands Bob #61228]

We just referred to it as gun or pistol.  "Get your gun and let's go."  Uniform guys always had their gun on.  CID people sometimes  took their guns off while in the office because a fully loaded Glock 17 is heavy when wearing dress pants.

[Alpo]

1 hour ago, Dirty Dan Dawkins said:

I wonder if this sort of language has more to do with regional differences in dialect

That's why I pretty much ignored what Ducky said. British and military - just could be the term that that group of people would use.

 

[Texas Joker]

If you say 'gun' they may not dress for the party properly. Long gun, rifle or sidearm gives a precise instruction that can be properly interpreted 

[Alpo]

39 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

It doesn't sound "stupid" to me as it is a proper term and I have yet to have anyone say "Sidearm? What's a  sidearm?"

There's a comic book. Groo the Wanderer. He's sort of a mentally deficient Conan the Barbarian. He never gets into a fight. He never gets into a battle. He joins the fray. There might be a war going on, with thousands upon thousands of people fighting, and he will pull his swords and join the fray.

 

It's just the term he uses. It's the correct term. But people do not normally use that term, so he sounds strange when he says it. And I am certain that the author of the comic has him use it specifically so he will sound strange.

 

 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

When and where I was growing up we always said "six shooter" (any revolver in spite of its capacity) or "pistol" for semi automatics or other handguns that weren't revolvers.

 

Once in the military they became sidearms (one word) or handguns.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

 

In my military service, Handguns were referred to "Sidearms" and every so often one stood for "Sidearm inspection."  Not to be confused with "Shortarm" inspection (snicker snicker)

[Bart Slade]

22 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

When and where I was growing up we always said "six shooter" (any revolver in spite of its capacity) or "pistol" for semi automatics or other handguns that weren't revolvers.

 

Tangental from the topic - but I've never understood why people will correct you when you refer to a revolver as a pistol (these folks will tell you that 'pistol' means a semi-automatic handgun).   Any small one-handed firearm is a pistol in my book.  

 

2 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

It doesn't sound "stupid" to me as it is a proper term and I have yet to have anyone say "Sidearm? What's a  sidearm?"

 

I think Alpo was using the word "stupid" as synonymous with "unusual" or incongruous, as he defined by saying "Like someone calling their mother and their father Mother and Father, instead of mom and dad or some other familiar affectionate term. It just sounds weird to me", which to me explained it perfectly.   Meaning the term itself is understood (he's not saying 'what's a sidearm?'), but rather it's not the word the average person would choose.

 

I've heard "sidearm" enough that it doesn't sound unusual to me, although I'd agree with Alpo that it sounds unnecessarily formal. 

[Rip Snorter]

Potato, potahto!

[Trailrider #896]

"Tangental from the topic - but I've never understood why people will correct you when you refer to a revolver as a pistol (these folks will tell you that 'pistol' means a semi-automatic handgun).   Any small one-handed firearm is a pistol in my book."

 

Originally, a "pistol" was a short gun carried either on a horse or on a person's body. When the revolver was invented and came into general use, it was sometimes referred to as a "revolving pistol".  Eventually, the term was shortened to simply, "revolver".  But the military often referred to whatever was carried on one's person as a "sidearm".  Of course, a semi-automatic handgun cannot be referred to as a revolver (except for that British semi-auto revolver).  

Now, I wonder what those PC people would say about Froggy? "Froggy went a'courtin', he did ride...his sword and pistol by his side..."  Was Froggy packin' a semi-automatic handgun? 

  

 

[Ranger Dan]

In my day (retired 2003) the primary weapon was the M4 carbine. The pistol M9 berretta was your "secondary" or "backup". Shotguns were "breaching tool". Sniper rifles, of which we had several, were referred to as "Long guns" for their long range capability and being much longer than the carbine.

[DocWard]

I trained, qualified, and trained others on the Pistol, Semiautomatic, 9mm, M9. Prior to that, it was the Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911. I qualified on both standard Pistol Qualification Courses and Combat Pistol Qualification Courses. 
 

I don’t recall ever referring to it as a sidearm. Pistol, M9, 1911, weapon or maybe firearm. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I seem to recall some old fashioned reference to ANY one handed shooter of any kind was a 
pistol" as in the old Hispano-Spanish-Mexican phrase "Pistolero".....which predates revolvers and other handguns except for single shot flintlock and percussion guns. 

 

So there!

[Utah Bob #35998]

In my time in the military, 66-70, the pistol was generally referred to as a sidearm or a 45. In the subsequent 30 years as an LEO it was referred to as a service pistol or duty weapon if you were writing a report.

[Utah Bob #35998]

4 minutes ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I seem to recall some old fashioned reference to ANY one handed shooter of any kind was a 
pistol" as in the old Hispano-Spanish-Mexican phrase "Pistolero".....which predates revolvers and other handguns except for single shot flintlock and percussion guns. 

 

So there!

And the first large muzzle loading handguns were carried on the saddle. Often referred to as Horse Pistols

[PowderRiverCowboy]

M4 primary, Sig(we didnt use M9's much) was backup, side arm, pistol , pea shooter depends on who  

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

Duty weapon for the pistol or revolver on your belt.  Patrol carbine for the AR in the trunk.

[Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663]

As a U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery Warrant Officer, I called it my "Bullet Launcher."   And that's OFFICIAL!

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

I heard personal firearm. firearm, weapon, pistol, and sidearm. I never heard an 'official' term by any range officers or instructors, or I was asleep.

[Rip Snorter]

Conversations I remember back in Police revolver days were often "The Smith", "The Colt", "The Backup" , "The Shotgun". "The 870" or "The '97"  yes, and I loved it when I drew one of the '97s.