Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The FBI’s firearm training has begun focusing on close-quarters combat after a review found that most agent-involved shootings are within point-blank range, the USA Today reports.
The new training protocol is a dramatic shift for an agency that has relied on long-range marksmanship training.
After reviewing about 200 shootings during a 17-year period involving FBI agents, the bureau found that 75% were within 3 yards when gunfire was exchanged, the USA Today reported.
“The thing that jumps out at you from the (shooting incident) research is that if we’re not preparing agents to get off three to four rounds at a target between 0 and 3 yards, then we’re not preparing them for what is likely to happen in the real world,” FBI training instructor Larry “Pogo” Akin told the USA Today.
The new training also requires agents to draw their guns from holsters shielded by jackets or blazers to replicate real-life scenarios.
