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108-807: The Metro Transit Police Department ( MTPD ) is the transit police agency of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), created by the WMATA Compact on June 4, 1976. The MTPD is unique in U.S. law enforcement as it is the only U.S. police agency that has full police authority in relation to a multi-state metro system. The MTPD has authority in three jurisdictions: Maryland , Virginia , and Washington, D.C. The department has an authorized strength of 490 sworn officers, 170 special police officers, and more than 100 civilian personnel. Newly sworn officers complete 23 weeks of initial training at

216-413: A 20-gauge within a few years, and to 12-gauge shotguns and full-size hunting rifles by their late teens. Still, many who are particularly recoil-averse choose to stay with 20-gauge shotguns all their adult life, as it is a suitable gauge for many popular hunting uses. A recent innovation is the back-boring of barrels, in which the barrels are bored out slightly larger than their actual gauge. This reduces

324-600: A SIG Sauer P226 or P229, chambered for .40 S&W . Officers are also trained and certified to carry pepperball launchers and shotguns . The MTPD has various units within it to fulfil its obligations, these include: Since the establishment of the Metro Transit Police Department, two officers have been killed in the line of duty. Officer Harry Davis, Jr., was shot and killed in Landover, Maryland , while investigating

432-418: A centerfire cartridge. Although very rare, drillings with three and even four (a vierling ) shotgun barrels were made. In pump-action shotguns , a linearly sliding fore-end handguard (i.e. pump ) is manually moved back-and-forth like a hand pump to work the action, extracting the spent shell and inserting a new round, while cocking the hammer or striker . A pump-action shotgun is typically fed from

540-515: A scattergun , peppergun , or historically as a fowling piece ) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell , which discharges numerous small spherical projectiles called shot , or a single solid projectile called a slug . Shotguns are most commonly used as smoothbore firearms, meaning that their gun barrels have no rifling on the inner wall, but rifled barrels for shooting sabot slugs ( slug barrels ) are also available. Shotguns come in

648-405: A tubular magazine underneath the barrel, which also serves as a guide rail for the pump. The rounds are fed in one by one through a port in the receiver, where they are lifted by a lever called the elevator and pushed forward into the chamber by the bolt. A pair of latches at the rear of the magazine hold the rounds in place and facilitate feeding of one shell at a time. If it is desired to load

756-401: A break when shooting clay targets. In reality the pattern is closer to a Gaussian , or normal distribution, with a higher density in the center that tapers off at the edges. Patterns are usually measured by firing at a 30-inch (76 cm) diameter circle on a large sheet of paper placed at varying distances. The hits inside the circle are counted, and compared to the total number of pellets, and

864-482: A bus or entering a station. It also explained its intent to stop anyone acting suspiciously. Metro claims that "Legal authority to inspect packages brought into the Metro system has been established by the court system on similar types of inspections in mass transit properties, airports, military facilities and courthouses." Metro Transit Police Chief Michael Taborn stated that, if someone were to turn around and simply enter

972-556: A city-elevated system or subway ) as opposed to long-distance rail carriage. Law enforcement agencies of both cargo railroads and long-haul rail carriers are usually referred to as " railroad police " or "railway police". There is often considerable overlap in transit police and railroad police agencies’ duties. Railroad police agencies, however, have a long history, and were established separate from and prior to most modern transit police agencies. Transit police and railroad police powers may also be legally defined separately; For example, in

1080-409: A conical portion about three times the bore diameter in length, so the shot is gradually squeezed down with minimal deformation. The cylindrical section is shorter, usually 0.6 to 0.75 inches (15 to 19 millimetres). The use of interchangeable chokes has made it easy to tune the performance of a given combination of shotgun and shotshell to achieve the desired performance. The choke should be tailored to

1188-447: A dedicated launching device called a "trap". The action is the operating mechanism of a gun. There are many types of shotguns, typically categorized by the number of barrels or the way the gun is reloaded. For most of the history of the shotgun, the breechloading break-action shotgun was the most common type, and double-barreled variants are by far the most commonly seen in modern days. These are typically divided into two subtypes:

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1296-497: A dowel rod or other stop that is inserted into the magazine and reduces the capacity of the gun to three shells (two in the magazine and one chambered) as is mandated by U.S. federal law when hunting migratory birds. They can also easily be used with an empty magazine as a single-shot weapon, by simply dropping the next round to be fired into the open ejection port after the spent round is ejected. For this reason, pump-actions are commonly used to teach novice shooters under supervision, as

1404-592: A huge success, as they were somewhat slow and awkward to operate, and the rate of fire was noticeably slower (on average) than a double-barrelled gun. The Rifle Factory Ishapore in India also manufactured a single-shot .410 bore shotgun based on the SMLE Mk III* rifle. The Russian Berdana shotgun was effectively a single-shot bolt-action rifle that became obsolete, and was subsequently modified to chamber 16-gauge shotgun shells for civilian sale. The U.S. military M26

1512-709: A larger, local law enforcement agency; Examples include the LACMTA Police's duties being assumed by the LAPD Transit Services Division and the New York City Transit Police being integrated into the NYPD Transit Bureau . Where the term "transit police" is used for a law enforcement agency or unit working for a railroad/railway, it usually refers to a railroad providing urban mass transit (such as

1620-664: A limited effective zone. Offset chokes, where the pattern is intentionally slightly off of center, are used to change the point of impact. For instance, an offset choke can be used to make a double barrelled shotgun with poorly aligned barrels hit the same spot with both barrels. Shotguns generally have longer barrels than modern rifles. Unlike rifles, however, the long shotgun barrel is not for ballistic purposes; shotgun shells use small powder charges in large diameter bores, and this leads to very low muzzle pressures (see internal ballistics ) and very little velocity change with increasing barrel length. According to Remington, modern powder in

1728-552: A military or law enforcement context, the high short-range blunt knockback force and large number of projectiles makes the shotgun useful as a door breaching tool, a crowd control or close-quarters defensive weapon . Militants or insurgents may use shotguns in asymmetric engagements , as shotguns are commonly owned civilian weapons in many countries. Shotguns are also used for target - shooting sports such as skeet , trap , and sporting clays , which involve flying clay disks, known as " clay pigeons ", thrown in various ways by

1836-440: A modified choke can serve admirably for use as one gun intended for general all-round hunting of small-game such as quails, rabbits, pheasants, doves, and squirrels in semi-open wooded or farmland areas in many parts of the eastern US (Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee) where dense brush is less of a hindrance and the ability to have more reach is important. For hunting in dense brush, shorter barrel lengths are often preferred when hunting

1944-489: A notable uptick in lever-action shotgun sales in Australia since 1997, when pump-actions were effectively outlawed. Bolt-action shotguns, while uncommon, do exist. One of the best-known examples is a 12-gauge manufactured by Mossberg featuring a 3-round magazine, marketed in Australia just after changes to the gun laws in 1997 heavily restricted the ownership and use of pump-action and semi-automatic shotguns. They were not

2052-590: A police force under the Ministry of Railways , but such authority has since been transferred to local police agencies. However, the structure of institutions can be vary from city to city. For example, cities like Tianjin and Chengdu might have a joint public transportation force of division level, operates on all the taxis, bus routes, coaches, rapid transit and ferry lines as well as transportation hubs inside city limit; while Chongqing and Xi'an have tighter transit cop brigades focused exclusively on protecting

2160-440: A public forum for the searches at a Metro Riders' Advisory Council meeting, at which more than 50 riders spoke out, most of them in opposition to the searches. Despite this, Metro officials called the random bag inspections a "success" and stated that few riders had complained. As of 2022, random bag searches have not been conducted in several years. Transit police Transit law enforcement services may also be provided by

2268-435: A range of different action types, both single-shot and repeating . For non-repeating designs, over-and-under and side-by-side break action shotguns are by far the most common variants. Although revolving shotguns do exist, most modern repeating shotguns are either pump action or semi automatic , and also fully automatic , lever-action , or bolt-action to a lesser extent. Preceding smoothbore firearms (such as

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2376-407: A shotgun burns completely in 25 (9.8425 in) to 36 (14.173 in) cm barrels. Since shotguns are generally used for shooting at small, fast moving targets, it is important to lead the target by firing slightly ahead of the target, so that when the shot reaches the range of the target, the target will have moved into the pattern. Shotguns made for close ranges, where the angular speed of

2484-425: A shotgun has far more power and damage potential (up to 10 times the muzzle energy of a .45 ACP cartridge), allowing a " one-shot stop " that is more difficult to achieve with typical handgun loads. Compared to a rifle, riot shotguns are easier to maneuver due to the shorter barrel, still provide better damage potential at indoor distances (generally 3–5 meters/yards), and reduce the risk of "overpenetration"; that is,

2592-984: A single shotgun for gamebirds normally pursued with 12 or 20-gauge shotguns, but have become rarer in recent years. 20-gauge shotguns are often used for gamebirds such as doves, smaller ducks, and quail. 28-gauge shotguns are not as common, but are classic quail-hunting guns. .410 gauge shotguns are typically used for squirrel hunting or for sportsmen seeking the challenge of killing game with a smaller load. Other, less common shotgun cartridges have their own unique uses. Ammunition manufacturer CCI produces 9mm Parabellum (.355 in.) and several other popular pistol calibers up to .45 ACP (11.43mm), as well as smaller calibers such as .22 Long Rifle (5.5mm) and .22 Magnum (5.5mm). These are commonly called snake shot cartridges. Larger gauges, up to 4 bore, too powerful to shoulder, have been built, but were generally affixed to small boats and referred to as punt guns . These were used for commercial waterfowl hunting, to kill large numbers of birds resting on

2700-556: A specialized unit within a larger local law enforcement agency. Their mandate is generally to prevent and investigate all crime committed against the carrier or its passengers and crime incidentally committed on or around the carrier's property. A transit police force may consist of officers employed directly by a transit system or by a government agency dedicated to providing specialized law enforcement services. There are numerous instances of both within United States , given

2808-496: A stolen vehicle parked at a Metro facility near the Landover station on December 20, 1993. Officer Marlon Morales was shot in the District of Columbia by a fare evasion suspect at the U Street Metro station on June 10, 2001. Morales succumbed to his wounds and died on June 13, 2001. The suspects in both murders were identified, captured, tried, and convicted. Davis' killer was convicted of first degree murder, and Morales' killer

2916-402: A variety of close quarters combat roles in civilian, law enforcement, and military applications. The smoothbore shotgun barrel generates less resistance and thus allows greater propellant loads for heavier projectiles without as much risk of overpressure or a squib load , and are also easier to clean . The shot pellets from a shotshell are propelled indirectly through a wadding inside

3024-406: A wide variety of calibers and gauges ranging from 5.5 mm (.22 inch) to up to 5 cm (2.0 in), though the 12-gauge (18.53 mm or 0.729 in) and 20-gauge (15.63 mm or 0.615 in) bores are by far the most common. Almost all are breechloading , and can be single barreled, double barreled , or in the form of a combination gun . Like rifles, shotguns also come in

3132-436: Is also a bolt-action weapon. Bolt-action shotguns have also been used in the "goose gun" application, intended to kill birds such as geese at greater range. Typically, goose guns have long barrels (up to 36 inches), and small bolt-fed magazines. Bolt-action shotguns are also used in conjunction with slug shells for the maximum possible accuracy from a shotgun. In Australia, some straight-pull bolt-action shotguns, such as

3240-403: Is ballistically inefficient. As the shot leaves the barrel it begins to disperse in the air. The resulting cloud of pellets is known as the shot pattern , or shotgun shot spread . The ideal pattern would be a circle with an even distribution of shot throughout, with a density sufficient to ensure enough pellets will intersect the target to achieve the desired result, such as a kill when hunting or

3348-467: Is designed to stop any spin that the shot column might acquire when traveling down the barrel. These tubes are often extended tubes, meaning they project beyond the end of the bore, giving more room for things like a longer conical section. Shot spreaders or diffusion chokes work opposite of normal chokes—they are designed to spread the shot more than a cylinder bore, generating wider patterns for very short range use. A number of recent spreader chokes, such as

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3456-472: Is in essence a modified inertia-driven semi-automatic shotgun, but after blowback the bolt is trapped by a bolt stop and cannot return to battery unless it is manually released by depressing a thumb lever near the tang of the grip. Because the gun will not chamber a new round without manual actuation, the design is technically not really a self-loading, and Verney-Carron described it as a "manual repeating shotgun". When Australian firearm dealers tried to import

3564-628: Is often used as a beginner's gun. However, the small charge and typically tight choke make it more difficult to hit targets. It is also frequently used by expert shooters because of the difficulty, especially in expensive side by side and over/under models for hunting small bird game such as quail and doves. Inexpensive bolt-action .410 shotguns are a very common first hunting shotgun among young pre-teen hunters, as they are used mostly for hunting squirrels, while additionally teaching bolt-action manipulation skills that will transfer easily later to adult-sized hunting rifles. Most of these young hunters move up to

3672-453: The .45LC /.410 rounds; but as with derringers they are not considered shotguns. The .410 bore (10.4 mm) is unusual, being measured in inches, and would be approximately 67 "real" gauge, though its short hull versions are nominally called 36-gauge in Europe. It uses a relatively small charge of shot. It is used for hunting and for skeet. Because of its very light recoil (approx 10 N), it

3780-723: The British Transport Police (BTP). The BTP is a full-service, national law enforcement agency, which essentially combined the duties of dozens of now-defunct transit and railway police agencies into a single entity (the BTP has no authority in Northern Ireland , except in emergencies). Some transit police forces have full policing powers, such as the US' BART Police , SEPTA 's Transit Police, Metro Transit Police Department , Utah Transit Authority Police Department or

3888-747: The Criminal Code of Canada in Ontario and Quebec; and their officers variously have the ability to use emergency vehicles with sirens (in Alberta, parts of Ontario, and Quebec) and carry a baton, handcuffs, and pepper spray or gel (in all four provinces). Cities in China which have rapid transit systems all have their transit police force associated to the local public security bureau . There are no non-governmental police forces, or police institutes under transit authority. National Rail used to have

3996-572: The District Police in the areas under their jurisdiction, such as patrolling and prevention and detection of crimes but only on railway property. It is the parent agency of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), and aids and provides assistance to it, whose primary duties are to protect and secure all railway property. The GRP's responsibility is to observe law and order on all railway property. Officers are recruited from

4104-806: The District of Columbia , the Commonwealth of Virginia , and have the same police authority as the local police departments located within the boundaries of the Metro service area. The MTPD is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies . Uniformed and plainclothes Transit Police officers patrol the Metrorail and Metrobus systems on foot, bicycles, motorcycles, and marked and unmarked police cars . Transit Police detectives provide investigative support. Transit Police officers have jurisdiction and arrest powers throughout

4212-496: The Franchi SPAS-12 and Benelli M3 , are capable of switching between semi-automatic and pump action. These are popular for two reasons; first, some jurisdictions forbid the use of semi-automatic actions for hunting, and second, lower-powered rounds, like "reduced-recoil" buckshot shells and many less-lethal cartridges, have insufficient power to reliably cycle a semi-automatic shotgun. Fully automatic shotguns , such as

4320-1064: The Government Railway Police . Other forces may exist as a specialized unit of a local law enforcement agency, such as the United States' Transit Police Services Bureau of the Orange County, California Sheriff's Department (which serves the Orange County Transportation Authority ) or the Transit Enforcement Unit of the Phoenix Police Department (assigned to the Phoenix Public Transit Department ). Some formerly independent transit police agencies have also been absorbed into (or had their duties assumed by)

4428-746: The Indian Police Service (IPS) and State Police Services (SPS). The force is under control of the police departments of the various State Police Services (SPS) in liaison with Ministry of Railways . Railway Security Guard  : Armed security forces protecting railway system in Poland Main Directorate of the Transport of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. (Главное Управление на Транспорте Министерства Внутренних Дел.) Shotgun A shotgun (also known as

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4536-583: The MBTA Police . The UK's British Transport Police , also has full police powers within Great Britain . In some areas, transit police agencies have limited or specific powers, and may be classed as special police or special constables , or peace officers with limited powers, such as Canada 's Edmonton Transit Peace Officers. Regardless, transit police services nearly always hold more authority than un-sworn, security guard-only services. Some of

4644-554: The Metro Center station with a PayDay candy bar. Before passing through the fare gates, patrolling police officers told her to finish eating before she could enter the paid area. Instead, she popped the last bite of the bar into her mouth, continuing to chew it while in the station. She was subsequently arrested after refusing to cooperate with the issuance of a citation for the offense. Doug Berman , creator producer of NPR shows Car Talk and Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! ,

4752-769: The Metro Vancouver Transit Police ( South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service ). Some agencies have rather extensive jurisdictions, including traffic enforcement and arrest powers on and off property, for example, the New Jersey Transit Police Department maintains the distinction of being the only transit police agency in the United States with statewide authority. New South Wales Queensland South Australia Victoria Western Australia There are two transit police agencies in Canada:

4860-725: The Metro Vancouver Transit Police , a provincially-regulated "designated policing unit" within TransLink , the transit authority for the Metro Vancouver Regional District in British Columbia ; and the Via Rail Police Service , a federally-regulated railway police force operated by Via Rail , the provider of intercity rail service for all of Canada. There are also two other federally-regulated railway police services serving

4968-714: The Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Training Academy , followed by 15 weeks of training at the Metro Transit Police Academy, which includes training in Maryland and District of Columbia law, then conclude with 10 weeks of field training under the supervision of a field training officer . Upon completion of training, all sworn officers are fully accredited police officers within the State of Maryland ,

5076-661: The United States , Canada , or Australia , federal and state statutes determine the jurisdiction and authority of all police departments, including transit police. Most transit police services have the same police authority as any other national, state and local police agencies, such as the MBTA Transit Police Department , MARTA (Atlanta) Transit Police , British Transport Police , New Jersey Transit Police Department , BART Police , Maryland Transit Administration Police , DART Police, SEPTA Transit Police , Utah Transit Authority Police Department , and

5184-412: The broken windows philosophy of crime reduction. According to criminal justice author Nancy G. La Vigne, Metro's attempts to reduce crime, combined with how the station environments were designed with crime prevention in mind , has contributed to the fact that Washington Metro was regarded to be among the safest and cleanest subway systems in the United States in 1996. This has recently been challenged in

5292-444: The musket ) were widely used by European militaries from the 17th until the mid-19th century. The muzzleloading blunderbuss , the direct ancestor of the shotgun, was also used in similar roles from self-defense to riot control. Shotguns were often favored by cavalry troops in the early to mid-19th century because of its ease of use and generally good effectiveness on the move, as well as by coachmen for its substantial power. But by

5400-856: The 1,500-square-mile (3,900 km) Metro service area for crimes and traffic infractions that occur on facilities owned, controlled or operated by the Transit Authority (including bus stops), within 150 feet (46 m) of a Metrobus stop, or that endanger Metro property or patrons. These jurisdictional boundaries do not limit the Metro Transit Police from making arrests in the Transit Zone for violations committed upon, to or against such facilities, while in hot or close pursuit, or to execute traffic citations and criminal process. Due to mutual aid and memorandums of understanding , while on uniformed patrol, Metro Transit Police have

5508-647: The 1960's (appeared in 1967) Vietnam War era Remington Model 7188 (designed for and used by US Navy SEALs in Vietnam), the Auto Assault-12 (AA-12) or the USAS-12 also exist, but they are still rare. In addition to the commonly encountered shotgun actions already listed, there are also shotguns based on the Martini-Henry rifle design, originally designed by British arms maker W.W. Greener . Some of

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5616-518: The 1970s from companies like A & W Engineering. Military versions of the Ithaca 37 with duckbill choke were used in limited numbers during the Vietnam War by US Navy Seals. It arguably increased effectiveness in close range engagements against multiple targets. Two major disadvantages plagued the system. One was erratic patterning. The second was that the shot would spread too quickly providing

5724-712: The Authority is located, or in which the Authority operates any service. Transit Police are actively involved in protecting Metro passengers, Metro infrastructure, and the local communities from terrorist threats. After the September 11, 2001 attacks , the 2004 Madrid train bombings , and the July 7, 2005 London subway bombings , and periodically since, members of the Metro Transit Police Special Response Team conduct security sweeps of

5832-604: The Briley "Diffusion" line, actually use rifling in the choke to spin the shot slightly, creating a wider spread. The Briley Diffusion uses a 1 in 36 cm twist, as does the FABARM Lion Paradox shotgun. Oval chokes, which are designed to provide a shot pattern wider than it is tall, are sometimes found on combat shotguns , primarily those of the Vietnam War era. They were available for aftermarket addition in

5940-635: The Streetsweeper. Taurus manufactures a carbine variant of the Taurus Judge revolver along with its Australian partner company, Rossi known as the Taurus/Rossi Circuit Judge . It comes in the original combination chambering of .410 bore and .45 Long Colt , as well as the .44 Remington Magnum chambering. The rifle has small blast shields attached to the cylinder to protect the shooter from hot gases escaping between

6048-610: The Turkish-made Pardus BA12 and Dickinson T1000, the American C-More Competition M26 , as well as the indigenous-designed SHS STP 12, have become increasingly popular alternatives to lever-action shotguns, largely due to the better ergonomics with less stress on the shooter's trigger hand and fingers when cycling the action. Colt briefly manufactured several revolving shotguns that were met with mixed success. The Colt Model 1839 Shotgun

6156-584: The U.S. is 18 inches (460 mm), and this barrel length (sometimes 18.5–20 in (470–510 mm) to increase magazine capacity and/or ensure the gun is legal regardless of measuring differences ) is the primary choice for riot shotguns. The shorter barrel makes the weapon easier to maneuver around corners and in tight spaces, though slightly longer barrels are sometimes used outdoors for a tighter spread pattern or increased accuracy of slug projectiles. Home-defense and law enforcement shotguns are usually chambered for 12-gauge shells, providing maximum shot power and

6264-400: The US, as the shot may be ingested by the waterfowl, which some authorities believe can lead to health problems due to the lead exposure. Shot is termed either birdshot or buckshot depending on the shot size. Informally, birdshot pellets have a diameter smaller than 5 mm (0.20 in) and buckshot are larger than that. Pellet size is indicated by a number; for bird shot this ranges from

6372-533: The United States, many states have separate laws concerning both types of agencies. However, in modern times, with increasing overlap in duties and the proliferation of extensive mass transit systems, some jurisdictions have opted for a hybrid model of railroad and transit policing. For instance, in the United Kingdom , most of the rail systems, including the London Underground , are policed by

6480-452: The Véloce shotgun in 2018, Greens ' David Shoebridge and anti-gun groups such as Gun Control Australia caused a moral panic on the mainstream media , calling it "semi-semi-automatic" that needed to be prohibited as a "rapid-fire weapon". The gauge number is determined by the weight, in fractions of a pound, of a solid sphere of lead with a diameter equal to the inside diameter of

6588-473: The action manually operated by a pump or lever, the action automatically cycles each time the shotgun is fired, ejecting the spent shell and reloading a fresh one into the chamber. The first successful semi-automatic shotgun was John Browning 's Auto-5 , first produced by Fabrique Nationale beginning in 1902. Other well-known examples include the Remington 1100 , Benelli M1 , and Saiga-12 . Some, such as

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6696-473: The authority to take police action if they observe a serious crime or infraction in progress within the Metro service area, but outside of the jurisdiction established by the Compact. The Metro Transit Police have concurrent jurisdiction in performance of their duties with the duly constituted law enforcement agencies of the signatories and of the political subdivisions thereof in which any Transit facility of

6804-417: The barrel at the time of manufacture, by squeezing the end of the bore down over a mandrel , or by threading the barrel and screwing in an interchangeable choke tube. The choke typically consists of a conical section that smoothly tapers from the bore diameter down to the choke diameter, followed by a cylindrical section of the choke diameter. Briley Manufacturing, a maker of interchangeable shotgun chokes, uses

6912-683: The barrel. So, a 10-gauge shotgun nominally should have an inside diameter equal to that of a sphere made from one-tenth of a pound of lead. Each gauge has a set caliber . By far the most common gauges are 12 (0.729 in, 18.5mm diameter) and 20 (0.614 in, 15.6mm), this includes other more or less common gauges, such as the 10, 16, 24, 28, 32, and 67 ( .410 bore ) gauge. Different gauges have different typical applications. 12-gauge shotguns are common for hunting geese, large ducks, or other big larger gamebirds; professional skeet and trap shooting; military applications; and home-defense applications. 16-gauge shotguns were once common for hunters who wanted to use only

7020-532: The bathroom by a station manager at the Shady Grove station in June 2016. Metro now allows the use of restrooms by passengers who gain a station manager's permission, except during periods of heightened terror alerts . On October 27, 2008, the Metro Transit Police announced plans to immediately begin random searches of backpacks, purses, and other bags. Transit police would search riders at random before boarding

7128-579: The bullet or shot passing completely through the target and continuing beyond, which poses a risk to those behind the target through walls. The wide spread of the shot reduces the importance of shot placement compared to a single projectile, which increases the effectiveness of "point shooting" – rapidly aiming simply by pointing the weapon in the direction of the target. This allows easy, fast use by novices. Early attempts at repeating shotguns invariably centred around either bolt-or lever-action designs, drawing inspiration from contemporary repeating rifles, with

7236-500: The cartridge in a fixed geometric arrangement to fit. The diameter in hundredths of an inch of bird shot sizes from No. 9 to No. 1 can be obtained by subtracting the shot size from 17. Thus, No. 4 bird shot is 17 – 4 = 13 = 0.13 inches (3.3 mm) in diameter. Different terminology is used outside the United States. In England and Australia, for example, 00 buckshot cartridges are commonly referred to as " S.G. " (Swanshot gauge) cartridges. Shot, small and round and delivered without spin,

7344-561: The compression forces on the shot when it transitions from the chamber to the barrel. This leads to a slight reduction in perceived recoil, and an improvement in shot pattern due to reduced deformation of the shot. Most shotguns are used to fire "a number of ball shot", in addition to slugs and sabots. The ball shot or pellets is for the most part made of lead but this has been partially replaced by bismuth, steel, tungsten-iron, tungsten-nickel-iron and even tungsten polymer loads. Non-toxic loads are required by Federal law for waterfowl hunting in

7452-481: The country's two largest freight railways, the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City . In Alberta , Manitoba , Ontario , and Quebec , large transit systems maintain special constabularies , a type of unarmed police force, to provide safety and law enforcement services on transit property. These agencies have authority over transit by-laws and provincial legislation;

7560-596: The crimes transit police and railroad police investigate include trespassing on the right-of-way of a railroad, assaults against passengers, tagging of graffiti on railroad rolling stock and buses or bus stops , pickpocketing , ticket fraud , robbery and theft of personal belongings, baggage or freight , and drug dealing at transit stations. They may also engage in random ticket checking hoping to catch and fine ticketless travelers. These controls are usually more frequent in transit systems using an honor-based fare collecting approach . In federal states like

7668-556: The cylinder and barrel. The MTs255 (Russian: МЦ255 ) is a shotgun fed by a 5-round internal revolving cylinder. It is produced by the TsKIB SOO , Central Design and Research Bureau of Sporting and Hunting Arms. They are available in 12, 20, 28 and 32 gauges, and .410 bore. Recoil / inertia-driven or gas-operated actions are other popular methods of increasing the rate of fire of a shotgun; these self-loading shotguns are generally referred to as autoloaders . Instead of having

7776-500: The decentralized nature of US law enforcement; examples of larger, stand-alone agencies within the US include the MBTA Police , BART Police , and the New Jersey Transit Police Department . In the United Kingdom , transit law enforcement is provided by a single, nation-wide agency, the British Transport Police , although other law enforcement agencies may assist with this task. Within India , many transit policing services are conducted by

7884-418: The density of the pattern inside the circle is examined. An "ideal" pattern would put nearly 100% of the pellets in the circle and would have no voids—any region where a target silhouette will fit and not cover 3 or more holes is considered a potential problem. A constriction in the end of the barrel known as the choke is used to tailor the pattern for different purposes. Chokes may either be formed as part of

7992-556: The earliest successful repeating shotgun being the lever-action Winchester M1887 , designed by John Browning at the behest of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Lever shotguns, while less common, were popular in the late 19th century with the Winchester Model 1887 and Model 1901 being prime examples. Initially very popular, demand waned after the introduction of pump-action shotguns around

8100-458: The first shell. This design has only been repeated once, by Beretta with their UGB25 automatic shotgun. The user loads the first shell by breaking the gun in the manner of a break-action shotgun, then closes it and inserts the second shell into a clip on the gun's right side. The spent hulls are ejected downwards. The guns combine the advantages of the break action (they can be proven to be safe by breaking open, there are no flying hulls) with those of

8208-418: The generally suboptimal aerodynamic shape of the shot pellets also make them less accurate and decelerate quite quickly in flight due to drag , giving shotguns short effective ranges . In a hunting context, this makes shotguns useful primarily for hunting fast-flying birds and other agile small/medium-sized game without risking overpenetration and stray shots to distant bystander and objects. However, in

8316-532: The gun fully, a round may be loaded through the ejection port directly into the chamber, or cycled from the magazine, which is then topped off with another round. Well-known examples include the Winchester Model 1897 , Remington 870 , and Mossberg 500 /590. Pump-action shotguns are common hunting, fowling and sporting shotguns. Hunting models generally have a barrel between 600 and 700 mm (24"-28"). Tube-fed models designed for hunting often come with

8424-573: The gun. Lever shotguns have seen a return to the gun market in recent years, however, with Winchester producing the Model 9410 (chambering the .410 gauge shotgun shell and using the action of the Winchester Model 94 series lever-action rifle, hence the name), and a handful of other firearm manufacturers (primarily Norinco of China and ADI Ltd. of Australia) producing versions of the Winchester Model 1887/1901 designed for modern 12-gauge smokeless shotshells with more durable plastic casings. There has been

8532-465: The individual configuration largely being a matter of personal preference. Another, less commonly encountered type of break-action shotgun is the combination gun , which is an over-and-under design with one smoothbore barrel and one rifle barrel (more often with a rifle barrel on top, but a rifle barrel on bottom was not uncommon). There is also a class of break-action guns called drillings , which contain three barrels, usually two smoothbore barrels of

8640-520: The late 19th century, these weapons became largely replaced on the battlefield by breechloading rifled firearms shooting spin-stabilized cylindro-conoidal bullets , which were far more accurate with longer effective ranges . The military value of shotguns was rediscovered in the First World War , when American forces used the pump-action Winchester Model 1897 shotgun in trench fighting to great effect. Since then, shotguns have been used in

8748-637: The mass transit lines. Again, all these agencies are supervised by the PSBs of higher level. The Railway Protection Force is a security force, established by the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957 ; enacted by the Parliament of India for "the better protection and security of railway property ". The force is under the authority of the Ministry of Railways . It has the power to search, arrest, investigate and prosecute, though

8856-405: The media and community after several safety incidents including a full day shutdown on March 15, 2016. The broken windows philosophy also extends to use of station restroom facilities. Metro's long-standing policy restricts use of restrooms to only employees in order to prevent undesirable activity such as graffiti. One widely publicized example of this was when a pregnant woman was denied access to

8964-479: The more interesting advances in shotgun technology include the versatile NeoStead 2000 and fully automatics such as the Pancor Jackhammer or Auto-Assault 12 . In 1925, Rodolfo Cosmi produced the first working prototype hybrid semi-automatic shotgun, which had an 8-round magazine located in the stock. While it reloaded automatically after each shot like a semi-automatic, it had a break-action to load

9072-523: The rail system in tactical gear, carrying long rifles and submachine guns, and supported by explosive ordnance detection K-9 teams. The department has a dedicated explosive disposal team and K-9 unit, and often assists local and federal law enforcement agencies with their resources in those fields. Officers are currently issued the SIG Sauer P320 Carry 9 mm which is used as the standard issue sidearm. Prior to this, officers carried

9180-491: The range and size of the targets. A skeet shooter shooting at close targets might use 127 micrometres (0.005 inches) of constriction to produce a 76 cm (30 in) diameter pattern at a distance of 19 m (21 yd). A trap shooter shooting at distant targets might use 762 micrometres (0.030 inches) of constriction to produce a 76 cm (30 in) diameter pattern at 37 m (40 yd). Special chokes for turkey hunting, which requires long range shots at

9288-401: The same barrel length, and so will use longer barrels. The break open design saves between 7.62 and 15.24 cm (3.00 and 6.00 in) in overall length, but in most cases pays for this by having two barrels, which adds weight at the muzzle. Barrels for shotguns have been getting longer as modern steels and production methods make the barrels stronger and lighter; a longer, lighter barrel gives

9396-414: The same gauge and a rifled barrel, though the only common theme is that at least one barrel be smoothbore. The most common arrangement was essentially a side-by-side shotgun with the rifled barrel below and centered. Usually a drilling containing more than one rifled barrel would have both rifled barrels in the same caliber , but examples do exist with different caliber barrels, usually a .22 long rifle and

9504-428: The same inertia for less overall weight. Shotguns for use against larger, slower targets generally have even shorter barrels. Small game shotguns, for hunting game like rabbits and squirrels, or shotguns for use with buckshot for deer, are often 56 to 61 cm (22 to 24 in). Shotguns intended for all-round hunting are a compromise, but a 72 to 74 cm (28 to 29 in) barrel pump-action 12-gauge shotgun with

9612-493: The same types of game. Shotguns are well suited for the use of caliber conversion sleeves , allowing most single- and double-barrel shotguns to fire a wide range of ammunition. The X Caliber system consists of eight adapter sleeves that allow the 12-gauge models to fire: .380 ACP , 9mm Luger , .38 Special , .357 Magnum , .40 S&W , .44 Special , .44 Magnum , .45 ACP , .45 Long Colt , .410 gauge and 20-gauge ammunition. They even make four adapter sleeves that allow

9720-444: The search program. As of December 2008, Metro had not conducted a single bag search. In 2010 Metro once again announced that it would implement random bag searches, and conducted the first such searches on December 21, 2010. The searches consist of swabbing bags and packages for explosive residue, and X-raying or opening any packages which turned up positive. On the first day of searches, at least one false positive for explosives

9828-470: The semi-automatic (low recoil, low barrel axis position hence low muzzle flip). The Italian firearms manufacturer Benelli Armi SpA also makes the Benelli M3 , a dual-mode hybrid shotgun that allows the user the choice of semi-automatic or pump-action operation. Pump-action operation is employed when shooting less energetic shells (such as baton rounds ) that do not generate enough recoil to operate

9936-442: The semi-automatic mechanism. Conversely, the semi-automatic mode can be employed with more powerful shells, absorbing some of the recoil. Switching between the two modes is done by manipulating the ring located at the front of the foregrip . The French firearm manufacturer Verney-Carron produces the Véloce shotgun, a "lever-release blowback firearm" using bolt catch mechanism like its similarly designed SpeedLine rifle. The Véloce

10044-459: The shell and scatter upon leaving the barrel, which is usually choked at the muzzle end to control the projectile scatter. This means each shotgun discharge will produce a cluster of impact points instead of a single point of impact like other firearms. Having multiple projectiles also means the muzzle energy is divided among the pellets, leaving each individual projectile with less penetrative kinetic energy . The lack of spin stabilization and

10152-560: The small head and neck of the bird, can go as high as 1500 micrometres (0.060 inches). The use of too much choke and a small pattern increases the difficulty of hitting the target, whereas the use of too little choke produces large patterns with insufficient pellet density to reliably break targets or kill game. "Cylinder barrels" have no constriction. Other specialized choke tubes exist as well. Some turkey hunting tubes have constrictions greater than "Super Full", or additional features like porting to reduce recoil, or "straight rifling" that

10260-479: The smallest 12 (1.2 mm, 0.05 in) to 2 (3.8 mm, 0.15 in) and then BB (4.6 mm, 0.18 in). For buckshot, the numbers start and end with 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 ("single-aught"), 00 ("double-aught"), 000 ("triple-aught"), and 0000 ("quadruple-aught"). A different informal distinction is that "bird shot" pellets are small enough that they can be measured into the cartridge by weight, and simply poured in, whereas "buckshot" pellets are so large they must be stacked inside

10368-444: The start of the 20th century, and production was eventually discontinued in 1920. One major issue with lever-actions (and to a lesser extent pump-actions) was that early shotgun shells were often made of paper or similar fragile materials (modern hulls are plastic or metal). As a result, the loading of shells, or working of the action of the shotgun, could often result in cartridges getting crushed and becoming unusable, or even damaging

10476-411: The system through another escalator or elevator, Metro has "a plan to address suspicious behavior". Security expert Bruce Schneier characterized the plan as " security theater against a movie plot threat " and does not believe random bag searches actually improve security. The Metro Riders' Advisory Council recommended to WMATA's board of directors that Metro hold at least one public meeting regarding

10584-602: The targets is great (such as skeet or upland bird hunting), tend to have shorter barrels, around 24 to 28 inches (610 to 710 millimetres). Shotguns for longer range shooting, where angular speeds are small (trap shooting; quail, pheasant, and waterfowl hunting), tend to have longer barrels, 28 to 36 inches (910 mm). The longer barrels have more angular momentum , and will therefore swing more slowly but more steadily. The short, low angular momentum barrels swing faster, but are less steady. These lengths are for pump or semi-auto shotguns; break open guns have shorter overall lengths for

10692-661: The traditional "side-by-side" shotgun features two barrels mounted horizontally beside each other (as the name suggests), whereas the "over-and-under" shotgun has the two barrels mounted vertically one on top of the other. Side-by-side shotguns were traditionally used for hunting and other sporting pursuits (early long-barreled side-by-side shotguns were known as "fowling pieces" for their use hunting ducks and other waterbirds as well as some landfowls ), whereas over-and-under shotguns are more commonly associated with recreational use (such as clay pigeon shooting ). Both types of double-barrel shotgun are used for hunting and sporting use, with

10800-441: The trainer can load each round more quickly than with a break-action, while unlike a break-action the student can maintain his grip on the gun and concentrate on proper handling and firing of the weapon. Pump-action shotguns with shorter barrels and little or no barrel choke are highly popular for use in home defense, military and law enforcement, and are commonly known as riot guns . The minimum barrel length for shotguns in most of

10908-557: The ultimate power rests in the hands of the Government Railway Police . The Government Railway Police ( IAST : Sarakārī Rēlvē Pulīs ), abbreviated as GRP , is the police force of the respective state governments, tasked with policing on railways and their premises. It operates under the respective state police forces. It was established by the Railways Act, 1989 , of the Parliament of India. Its duties correspond to those of

11016-466: The use of a variety of projectiles such as buckshot, rubber, sandbag and slug shells, but 20-gauge (common in bird-hunting shotguns) or .410 (common in youth-size shotguns) are also available in defense-type shotgun models allowing easier use by novice shooters. A riot shotgun has many advantages over a handgun or rifle. Compared to "defense-caliber" handguns (chambered for 9mm Parabellum , .38 Special , .357 Magnum , .40 S&W , .45 ACP and similar),

11124-511: The water. Handguns have also been produced that are capable of firing either .45 (Long) Colt or .410 shotgun shells from the same chamber; they are commonly known as "snake guns". Derringers such as the " Snake Slayer and Cowboy Defender " are popular among some outdoors-men in the South and Southwest regions of the United States. There are also some revolvers, such as the Taurus Judge and Smith & Wesson Governor , that are capable of shooting

11232-657: Was arrested, searched, and handcuffed for refusing to stop eating french fries while in the Tenleytown–AU Metro station. She was taken to a police juvenile processing area where she was booked, fingerprinted, and detained until her mother arrived to pick her up. At the time of the incident, the officer had no legal authority to take any formal action against a juvenile other than make an arrest . This policy has since been changed and MTPD officers may now issue written warnings to juvenile offenders. Another widely noted case occurred on July 16, 2004, when an EPA employee entered

11340-520: Was manufactured between 1839 and 1841. Later, the Colt Model 1855 Shotgun, based on the Model 1855 revolving rifle , was manufactured between 1860 and 1863. Because of their low production numbers and age they are among the rarest of all Colt firearms. The Armsel Striker was a modern take on the revolving shotgun that held 10 rounds of 12-gauge ammunition in its cylinder. It was copied by Cobray as

11448-416: Was often credited on the former by the nickname "Subway Fugitive", supposedly dating to an incident where he was being ticketed for consuming coffee in a Metro station, but slipped onto a train, escaping the citation. While sometimes seen as excessive, Metro's zero-tolerance policy when it comes to crime and disorder, but also seemingly inconsequential actions such as eating, drinking, or littering, embodies

11556-723: Was produced, which Metro officials indicated could occur for a variety of reasons including if a passenger had recently been in contact with firearms or been to a firing range. The D.C. Bill of Rights Coalition and the Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition circulated a petition against random bag searches, taking the position that the practice violates the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and would not improve security. On January 3, 2011, Metro held

11664-411: Was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on July 30, 2004. Local ordinances strictly forbid riders from eating or drinking while on board a Metrobus, Metrorail train, or inside stations. Officers are required to take police action when they observe any criminal activity, but arrests for these minor violations are rare. One exception was on October 23, 2000, when a 12-year-old girl

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