The United States has one of the largest standing police forces in the world. Approximately 670,000 law enforcement personnel serve in some capacity across the United States—just a thousand less than the active-duty strength of the Army and Marine Corps combined. Each is typically issued a handgun and often a rifle or a shotgun. American law enforcement represents one of the largest firearms markets in a country known for firearms markets.

Police and sheriff’s departments generally have a great deal of latitude to choose whatever firearms they want for duty purposes. Like other markets, they ride waves, with some guns and calibers at times being more popular than others. Here are five firearms, from handguns to rifles, that have proven popular with American police forces in recent years.

Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 Handgun

The Smith & Wesson M&P (Military & Police) handgun was first introduced in 2005. The M&P was a melding of features from previous company offerings, the Sigma and the SW99. The company recently released a follow-on M&P 2.0 series. The handgun is similar to other modern semi-automatic pistols in having a polymer frame, including magazine well and trigger group, with a steel frame and barrel. The use of plastics cuts down on overall weight, reducing it to 25.9 ounces.

The M&P is known for its low bore axis, which Smith & Wesson claims reduce muzzle climb. The most popular model for law enforcement is likely the .40 caliber Smith & Wesson model, and a single pistol can hold fifteen rounds in the magazine. One popular feature is the ability to swap among four different palm swell grip inserts, tailoring any individual gun to different hand sizes—a must for a police department with a diverse pool of officers.

Beretta 92 Handgun

One of the first nine-millimeter handguns adopted by police was the Beretta Model 92. The Beretta 92 was originally developed for an Army competition to replace handguns across all of the armed services, and was officially adopted by the Pentagon in 1985. Military adoption, and a rise in crime and criminal firepower, had police forces across the country considering replacing their issue revolvers with a high capacity autoloader. As one of the first so-called “Wonder Nines,” the Beretta was purchased in large numbers by police and sheriff’s departments.

An updated version of the 1950s-era Beretta Brigadier, the all-metal 92 had an aluminum frame and steel slide. The Model 92 is a double-action, single-action pistol, with a heavy and long double-action trigger pull for the first shot as the pull cocked the pistol and pulled the trigger. Subsequent shots were in single action and featured a much lighter pull. This helps guard against negligent discharges and ensures that the first shot is taken deliberately. The gun also features a thumb safety, action decocker, and a firing pin lock to prevent accidental discharges. The Model 92 was produced exclusively in nine millimeter.

Glock 19

The Glock 19 was the second Glock handgun released. Slightly shorter in height and length than the 17 model, the Glock 19 is considered a compact category pistol and the model enthusiasts believe is the ideal daily carry size. The Glock 19 carries fifteen rounds internally and weighs just thirty ounces loaded—an important consideration for law enforcement personnel that carry a handgun eight to twelve hours a day.

The Glock 19 is a striker-fired handgun, using a striker instead of a hammer to strike the firing pin. The act of chambering a round in a striker-fired pistol cocks the striker, while pulling the trigger releases it, firing the pistol. The Glock 19 incorporates three safeties: a drop safety, firing pin safety and trigger safety. The pistol does not have a manual safety, which some observers believe has lead to negligent discharges, especially when inexperienced users remove a loaded pistol from a holster.

Mossberg 500 Shotgun

Shotguns have long been a part of police arsenals. A shotgun’s ability to fire a grouping of lead shot makes it particularly dangerous at short ranges. The expanding pattern of shot is well known to cause terrible wounds, and the large bore and shotgun’s reputation can have an intimidating effect.

The Mossberg 500 is a standard pump-action shotgun. It has a 20-inch barrel and police versions hold up to seven three-inch shells in the tubular magazine. The 500 features bead or ghost ring sights for rapid target acquisition and a manual safety at the rear end of the receiver.

 Remington 700 Rifle

In the 1960s, police departments nationwide began creating specialized units equipped with military-grade weaponry to confront rising levels of domestic and international terrorism, civil unrest, and particularly dangerous criminals. These special weapons and tactics (SWAT) units included police marksmen, trained in urban sniping.

One of the most common police sniper rifles is the Remington 700. Originally designed as a bolt action hunting rifle, the 700 was adopted by the U.S. military for the sniping role and their easy access made them a natural choice for law enforcement. The police version of the Remington 700 is typically a short action weapon, chambered in .308 Winchester, with a 20-inch or shorter barrel. The rifle is fitted with a bipod for stability and may be fitted with an elevated cheek weld or specialized stock or chassis. Police snipers typically observe and take shots from shorter ranges than military snipers and will often employ a less powerful rifle scope—but one with a wider field of view.

Kyle Mizokami is a defense and national-security writer based in San Francisco who has appeared in the Diplomat, Foreign Policy, War is Boring and the Daily Beast. In 2009 he cofounded the defense and security blog Japan Security Watch. You can follow him on Twitter: @KyleMizokami.

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