In 1950, the new Republic of Germany needed guns for their police forces and went about setting a standard for these guns to be acceptable for service. The Soviets occupied the easternmost portion of the land, and formed the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. The US and her allies occupied the Western two thirds of the country, which became the Federal Republic of Germany, commonly referred to as West Germany. But what you may not pay much mind to is that all of these guns get their ‘P’ designation from being adopted by the West German police back in the bad old days and, for students of history, that’s more than enough to raise an eyebrow at.Īt the end of World War 2, Germany was divided into two separate countries. You know the ones, the Walther p1, SIG P6, HK P7 etcetera. If you’re a handgun hound, chances are you’ve set eyes on a whole line of imported European 9mm cop guns over the years.
On top, the P5, left, P7 and, bottom, P6 commercial model.
