Editing Colt Python (section)

===Law enforcement===
The Python immediately made inroads into the law enforcement market when introduced, with the 6-inch barrel being popular with uniformed officers and the 4-inch barrel considered optimal for [[Covert operation#Plainclothes law enforcement|plainclothes]] use.<ref name="Thompson"/> The [[Colorado State Patrol]] issued 4-inch blue Pythons until their switch to the S&W .40 caliber autoloader.<ref name="Ayoob"/> [[Georgia State Patrol]] issued Pythons in the 1980s until their transition to [[Glock]] semiautomatic pistols in the 1990s. [[Florida Highway Patrol]] issued Pythons to their officers in the 1980s until their transition to the [[Beretta 92#92FS|Beretta 92FS]] in the late 1980s.<ref name="Ayoob">[[Massad Ayoob|Ayoob, Massad]](2003)''The Colt Python'', The Accurate Rifle Magazine, November 2003</ref> Python has since fallen out of common use, along with all revolvers, due to changing law enforcement needs that favor semi-automatic pistols. When law-enforcement agencies realized that the 9mm semi-automatic pistols fire a round with similar characteristics to the .38 Special with higher capacity, they began a migration to these, and other, semi-automatic pistol cartridges.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Encyclopedia of Police Science |last= Bailey |first= William G |year=1995 |publisher= Taylor & Francis |isbn= 0-8153-1331-4 |page=309 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/21/nyregion/new-york-city-police-to-replace-revolvers-with-semiautomatics.html New York City Police to Replace Revolvers With Semiautomatics] The New York Times, By CRAIG WOLFF, Saturday, August 21, 1993, Accessed April 27, 2009.</ref> The move away from the Python is also being driven by the increasing number of law enforcement agencies which require officers to carry department-issue weapons (as a way to reduce liability).