Times-Herald:

Because of ongoing difficulties getting enough ammunition for their .40-caliber service weapons, the Senoia Police Department will be trading them in for new 9mm pistols.

The Senoia City Council approved the trade-in and purchase of the new Glocks at Monday’s city council meeting.

“Over the past year we have had serious … difficulties finding .40-caliber ammunition,” said Senoia Police Chief Jason Edens. “We have been experiencing anything from six to eight months lead time” on getting their full order of both practice ammunition and “duty” ammo.

“It’s not obtainable by any department, not just ours,” Edens told the council.

Edens, and Councilman Jeff Fisher, said that the shortage of 40-caliber bullets is caused by the U.S. Military’s switch to the round.

“They are providing it to the military first… everybody else is second,” Fisher said.

Edens said he has done a lot of research, and there has been extensive testing done with the 9mm round. “It is performing as well as, if not better than, a .40-cal,” he said. It’s also up to 20 percent cheaper and “it is readily available, which is just very important to us.”

There are other advantages, as well. The .40-caliber magazine holds 15 rounds, while the 9mm holds 17. The 9mm bullets aren’t that much smaller than the .40-caliber, but there is less recoil with the 9mm, making it more user friendly. Plus, “we want to build a firearms program that concentrates on precision and accuracy with the shots, as opposed to just having a big chunk of lead,” Edens said.

The newer generation Glocks have a changeable back strap piece that can be customized for the size of the user’s hand.

Edens added that one of his officers, Lt. Jason Ercole, attended Glock’s Armorer School in the fall and can now do maintenance and repairs on the weapons.

The SPD will be trading in 14 used .40-caliber pistols and getting 16 new 9mm pistols. Glock will pay $300 for each trade-in, for a total cost of $2,434 for the new guns.

The military doesn’t use .40 S&W ammunition.  When looking for handgun ammunition, I can always find .22 WMR, .38., .357 Magnum, .40 and .45 (all of which I shoot and need).  I can never find 9 mm ammunition and that’s a good thing because I don’t shoot 9 mm.  The chief has his story backwards.

It sounds to me like the department just wants new firearms and is making up a story to support it.  Unfortunately, the city council is stupid enough to believe them.