Handguns, the often underappreciated and underestimated class of weaponry.

What most people fail to take into account is that a bullet fired from a .22 plinker sidearm, and a .50 caliber round from a rifle, both have the same end result upon contact with the human skull. One is just more theatrical.

GDS handguns function as both a sidearm, and as a primary weapon in some highly specific situations and loadouts. But their main purpose is to be used as a backup in the event your main weapon goes tits up or something. When deployed into an active combat zone or protecting a high-risk installation, the loss of a primary weapon due to it being disabled or destroyed should be resolved by the legionnaire pulling out an equally effective solution to an "ongoing issue" out of its holster.

The loss of a primary weapon due to dumbassery should be resolved by that legionnaire’s NCO performing some wall to wall counseling before ensuring that legionnaires searches every millimeter of the operational theater with their hands and face.

Some legionnaires have adopted their handguns into full on primary weapons through a mixture of advanced training, displayed proficiency, and annoying the fuck out of me at all hours until I agreed to let them deploy with those loadouts.
I’m not keen on sending someone out with only a handgun no matter what their proficiency, it’s a matter of only having a single weapon on hand. So now those idiots have to go out with a second handgun on their waist as a backup, and the thought of people deploying with two handguns instead of a rifle chaffs my ass. However, I will admit the handguns they take with them aren’t just Antlers. We’ve got quite the selection of highly specialized sidearms that could wipe out an enemy platoon in the right hands.

Otherwise, handguns work as an always available, always reliable self-defense weapon while traveling, on base, and other situations where you aren’t rocking a full Tungsten Skin loadout.

While I emphasize rifle proficiency, handgun proficiency is at the same level, and I had to bust my assto get the regs written out for the sidearm policy. So the reason you have a handgun on you at all times, that was me.
I'll be waiting for your thank you cards, just slide 'em under the office door.

With our handguns, we have the following classes.

- FrW Nahli Lok-Riveria