If you’re a regular reader of my column in the USCCA’s weekly digital newsletter The Concealed Carry Report, you may have picked up on the fact that when I discuss AR-15s or other defensive rifles, it is always in the context that a rifle, even a short-barreled rifle (SBR), is best utilized as an exterior property defense gun or perimeter weapon.

That is because, in the vast majority of average homes, condos, trailers and apartments, a handgun is the best weapon to control and clear interior spaces.I say this based upon my personal experience as a law enforcement officer. I have worked — and continue to work — street patrol for 36 of my 38 years on the job. I also spent eight months of those 38 years working as an undercover Ohio Department of Liquor

Control investigator and almost two years as an undercover narcotics detective at the Licking County (Ohio) Sheriff’s Office. I also spent 14 of those 38 years as a SWAT team member at the Union County (Ohio) Sheriff’s Office, serving eventually as assistant team leader and sniper.I’ve done a lot of building searches in my career — day and night, illuminated, and in pitch-black conditions except for the light I

brought with me. The reasons for conducting searches have ranged from finding unlocked or open doors to responding to burglary or robbery alarms to searching homes for suspects with warrants for their arrests to serving warrants on armed suspects with histories of violence and drug use to even rescuing hostages. For the vast majority of these searches, my fellow officers and I — particularly our patrol officers — conducted them with duty handguns and hand-held flashlights.Hands-On


Back in the dark ages of policing, which means prior to the early 2000s, the handgun was the only practical option for cops to use when clearing interior spaces. If by some chance the area was well-lit, then a Remington 870 pump shotgun could be brought into play, but even under ideal lighting conditions, using a shotgun during a two-officer search limited what the officer carrying it could do with his hands since no

tactical slings were available at the time.If you found a suspect during the search and your partner had to physically fight him to subdue him, you had to find a safe place to stash the shotgun so you could help. This meant that at least three officers had to go in if a shotgun were to be involved — two to physically control the suspect if needed and one to run the shotgun.If you found a suspect during the search and your

partner had to physically fight him to subdue him, you had to find a safe place to stash the shotgun so you could help.Also, it wasn’t until LED bulbs developed adequate power that workable tactical lights could be mounted on shotguns; recoil tore up the older incandescent bulbs. For these two reasons, shotguns were left in cruisers for roughly 99 percent of calls requiring a building search.When I joined the Union

County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team in 1997, I was one of the few officers who had an AR-15 of any sort. Mine was a DPMS M4-type carbine that lacked an adjustable stock, flash hider and bayonet lug due to the misguided and useless Clinton “Assault Weapons Ban,” but it still shot well and served its purpose. I took it along on at least one drug raid but was positioned outside to cover the perimeter.After the Assault

Weapons Ban sunsetted in 2004, I purchased an M4 with an adjustable stock and flash hider — an ultralight Bushmaster Carbon 15, which sadly appears to no longer be in production. The reinforced upper and lower receivers were made of carbon fiber, which made the M4 a joy to carry at 4.5 pounds. I added a laser/light combo, an Aimpoint optic and a single-point sling. I started taking it on missions and used it on

entries and searches; I had to since all the other kids were doing it too. Until one night…Our team had just cleared a drug warrant we worked with our detectives and had turned the scene and the suspect over to them. I was halfway home in my personal car and was requested back at the scene on an “officer needs assistance” emergency callout.When I arrived back, I found that the suspect had escaped the detectives’

confinement in his home (he had been sitting under guard at his kitchen table when I left) and was now holding himself hostage with a cocked 9mm pistol to his temple. Members of the team who’d been closest to the scene had set up an interior and exterior confinement perimeter by the time I made it back.I was initially put on perimeter with my rifle, but after about 20 minutes I was called inside. A detective had been

acting as negotiator and was behind a body bunker for cover since he was in the line of fire about 15 feet away. I covered the suspect, who was standing in his bedroom doorway.Remember how light I said the rifle was? Well, it got pretty darn heavy as the night wore on. After about an hour, I began thinking: “From my position about 20 feet from the suspect, I have a very clear shot.” At that time, our department issued the

Glock 31 .357 SIG with factory night sights. That’s a controllable powerhouse of a round, and it’s more than capable of a one-shot stop.If I were responding to an active-shooter incident at a school or large business, the Bushmaster would be my primary weapon going in.Atop that, I was also the top pistol shot on our team and confident in my abilities; I knew I could and would be able to drop the suspect should he take

his gun away from his head. I secured the carbine and began covering the suspect with the Glock 31.The standoff lasted a total of five hours and was ultimately resolved peacefully and without injury. I was able to keep the suspect covered during negotiations without fatigue for the last couple of hours of the standoff using the Glock 31, and after that mission, I left my carbine in the car for home and small business entries

and searches. However, if I were responding to an active-shooter incident at a school or large business, the Bushmaster would be my primary weapon going in.My reasoning for not carrying the AR during entries or building searches wasn’t just about the weight, even though that is what initiated my change in tactical thinking. It also had to do with maneuverability in tight spaces. Even an M4 carbine with a 16-inch barrel

is a lot to handle in a confined area, and it’s especially difficult to maneuver around furniture and other items in the home. Plus, the same issues that cause problems for taking shotguns in on building searches also apply to AR-15s.