Yes, I know, bigger is better right? Well not necessarily when it come to firearms. It’s been said that the best gun is the one you will use and that’s true. Your AR-15 sitting in your gun safe at home won’t do you any good during a car jacking. Your Glock 17 won’t do you much good under the seat of your car during a church shooting. Working in a gun store/range I hear people say some crazy things, but the most glaring to me is those who take our permit class, but say they really don’t plan to carry a gun, they just want it ‘just in case.’ Really? Here in TN you can possess a firearm and/or carry it in your car without a permit, so if you’re not going to carry what’s the point? (Check your State Gun Laws here.)
Lot’s of excuses: bulky, uncomfortable, too much of a hassle or even fear of an accidental discharge. First of all, if you’re worrying about firing ‘accidentally’ you need more training and practice. Carrying a firearm is serious business, but it isn’t dangerous if you obtain good training and practice regularly. I open carry at work (its part of the job) but the rest of the time I carry concealed as I don’t think it’s necessarily a good idea to advertise. Picking the right gun (or guns) to carry concealed will be determined by several factors primarily your size and type of clothing. Face it; it’s hard to conceal a full size auto in 90 degree heat. Enter the lowly pocket gun.
Pocket guns, sometime referred to as ‘get off me guns’ clearly don’t pack as much punch as larger caliber weapons, but a small caliber gun is better than no gun at all. A small .380 or 9mm auto (or even small revolver) can easily fit in a pocket or purse without being visible to others. I really don’t recommend buying a 22 auto for carry as they tend to have more malfunctions (in my experience), but that wouldn’t be much of an issue with a revolver. No, I am not opposed to carrying a full size auto if that’s what works for you. My favorite gun to shoot is my Colt 1911 that I’ve owned for over 25 years, but using it as a daily carry (I’m not a real big guy) is like dragging an anchor around all day. I have a Glock 19 9mm as my everyday carry, but it too can feel bulky after a while. Following a recent incident on a hiking trip (you can read bout that here) I decided I needed a small, light weight gun for such adventures. I purchased a Ruger LCPII (my wife already carried the LCPI) and now I’m never without it. No it is not a fun gun to shoot and it’s certainly not a target pistol, but it is well made, light weight and extremely compact and with a little practice can be shot with reasonable accuracy.
No, a .380 does not have the stopping power of a .45, but I still wouldn’t want to get shot with one!
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Prepper 365 