The first section examines the history of the "fleeing- felon" doctrine and the successful movement to abolish it. Next, various research studies that have examined the impact of more restrictive firearms policies are explored. These studies indicate that restrictive policies have reduced the number of police shootings as well as the number of line-of- duty officer deaths. This is followed by a discussion of the relative advantages and disadvantages of arming off-duty police officers. An examination of the number of police killings in the United States each year finds that data cannot currently reveal the number of citizens killed by police officers nationwide each year. Data supplied by individual departments indicate that the number of shooting deaths by police officers varies widely from department to department. An analysis of the relationship between officer social characteristics and shooting indicates that younger, less-experienced officers are more likely than older, experienced officers to become involved in shooting incidents. There is also some evidence that females and officers with middle-class backgrounds are less likely to use their weapons. The controversy associated with the disproportionate number of African-American police shooting victims is also examined. For the most part, the research suggests that race discrimination by police does not explain the disproportionate representation of African-Americans as shooting victims. 14 notes, 37 references, and 5 study questions