The Nation - News from Dec. 25, 1988

The Quality of Life Foundation of the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce will be the “receiving point” for citizen donations to buy Dallas police officers more powerful semiautomatic pistols. Police Chief Mack Vines has approved a program that will allow the purchase of 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistols as officers’ primary service weapons, instead of the current standard .38-caliber revolvers. Vines said the move would improve citizen safety and allow police to match the firepower of heavily armed drug dealers and other criminals. A 17-month departmental study showed that one-third of weapons confiscated from criminals are semiautomatic or automatic weapons. The approved guns carry between 12 and 17 rounds.