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Different from the interview that Paul did on the Modern Self Protection podcast, Paul Carlson of Safety Solutions Academy joins me for a very informative interview.
Links:
Safety Solutions Academy
Posted in 2nd Amendment, Concealed carry, Equipment and Accessories, First handgun, Gear Reviews, Handgun buying
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Part 2 of my series on things a new shooter or concealed carrier might want to consider. Remember to support your local gun store.
This is a tough subject. People have debated this for years and this argument can start bar fights if you’re not careful. Let me just throw this out there. “All handguns suck!”
Did I just say that? Yes. If you study ballistics testing (and I suggest you don’t unless you have insomnia) you’ll find that today, most handgun bullets have about the same stopping power. Ammunition technology is the best it’s ever been. Bullet designs are also the best they’ve ever been. There’s only 1mm or 2mm difference between the diameter of a 9mm, .40 caliber and .45acp caliber. And the heavier bullets travel slower. Which is better? All of them.
Seriously, don’t get caught up in caliber decisions. Pick one that you can shoot well, accurately and can acquire easily. Bad guys have been stopped with .22’s and .44 magnums and everything in between.
But the size of your gun matters. What a revelation, huh? Size matters. Joking aside, I want to bust the myth, right now, that beginners need a small gun. Way too often, women are easily persuaded to buy a small gun. They are told that it’s little, convenient and easy to use. Nothing could be further from the truth. It might be small, but it’s much harder to shoot.
Sometimes men also buy a small gun because it’s easier to carry. I would be dishonest if I told you that I don’t do that. I do, but very rarely. I only carry such a thing when it’s absolutely forbidden for me to be seen carrying a firearm.
The laws of physics don’t change. The smaller and lighter the gun, the more recoil it’s going to have (some people call it “kick.”) So it will be harder and more unpleasant to shoot. That also means you won’t practice much with it and when the time comes (hope it doesn’t) for you to use it, you might not prevail.
These little guns give you the ability to carry and hide them easily, however. That’s the trade off, but it’s one I’m not willing to make very often. I urge you to carry the largest gun you can comfortably carry. My view on this is different than a lot of other “experts.” Maybe because I look at it from an every day guy’s perspective and not a military or law enforcement operator. But even a little gun is better than no gun. You’ll find a lot of guns that are easy to carry and easy to shoot. Just be prepared to practice with it a lot.
Some examples are the Smith and Wesson Shield 9mm, Springfield Armory XDS 9mm, Glock 42 .380 caliber, Ruger LCSpro 9mm. There are others, but these are very popular for concealed carry and will also serve you well as a home defense gun. My preferred carry gun is a Glock 19, but I’m often found carrying a Shield 9mm and a Kahr PM9. With a good holster and belt (more on this later) these guns are comfortable and will get the job done, should you need to use it. You should look these up so you can see their sizes and weight, caliber and dimensions. Also, keep this book handy so you can go to a gun store and range and ask to rent these guns. Some guns hold more ammo than other and are often called “double stacks.” I’m trying not to get too technical for those of you new to concealed carry. That simply means the ammo is stacked in the magazine, side by side and then on top of each other. “Single stacks” have their ammo stacked one on top of each other, sort like single formation. So those guns are thinner and easier to conceal. A Glock 19 is an example of a double stack gun. A Kahr PM9 is an example of a single stack gun.
The best suggestion I can give you is DON’T BUY ANYTHING unless you can go to a range and rent one first. Or if a friend or relative has a gun model you’re interested in, borrow it and shoot it first. Gun stores are full of used snub nosed .38/.357 revolvers or small .380 caliber wallet sized semi automatics. People buy them because they’re cute, small and the one that irritates me the most, “easy for women to use.”
Then the owner goes to the range to shoot them for the first time and after 10-15 rounds fired, they decide they hate the gun. They recoil a lot, have hard trigger pulls and not very good sights. They are an experts gun, not a beginners’. The main point here is to resist the persuasion from your friends, relatives or even spouses to buy a certain gun. It’s a personal decision and one only you should make. In the end, if you end up with a snub nosed .38 special revolver or a medium sized double stack gun, you’ll be well armed. Just carry it all the time and everywhere it’s legal. That’s the key.
Bob Mayne
P.S. If you would like to support this blog and my show, please visit www.shootersclubmembers.com for a cool gun giveaway and a lot of educational material. I also have an Amazon Store listed at the top of this website.
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The first of a series of podcasts dedicated to the new shooter or concealed carrier.
http://www.gotquestions.org/live-die-by-the-sword.html
http://www.self-defense-mind-body-spirit.com/average-police-response-time.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062700580.html
http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/9267
I believe in the right to life. More specifically, the Declaration of Independence says that we that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.
So for me, carrying a gun means that I’m exercising my right to life. To defend my life against evil people who wish to take it away. Yes, evil people! You don’t want to admit that evil people exist? Well, then I suggest you stop reading right now and waste no more time.
Many people cite the 2nd Amendment as their authority to carry a gun. They would be correct. The Constitution protects this right. The founding fathers of the United States also wanted to give the citizens the ability to resist an overly tyrannical government. But that’s for another post on another day.
How many of you have families? Will you do anything to protect them? Will you save yourself too, so you can go home to that family and continue to take care of them? Even if you don’t, I assume you’re reading this because you value your own life enough to keep on living it.
I’m not suggesting that we live the by sword, for if we live by the sword, we will die by the sword. I interpret that piece of scripture to mean that we should not purposely use a weapon to create violence to get our own way. That’s living by the sword.
Other experts interpret it this way:
[The saying “live by the sword, die by the sword” is an idiom that basically means “what goes around comes around.” More to the point, “if you use violent, forceful, or underhanded methods against other people, you can expect those same methods to be used against you.]
Source: http://www.gotquestions.org/live-die-by-the-sword.html
The act of defending one’s self or the life of a loved one is a huge decision. I’ve taken an excellent class taught by Massad Ayoob, called MAG 40. Mr. Ayoob (www.massadayoob.com) is the leading authority on a civilian’s rules of engagement and the aftermath of using deadly force. Afterwards I spoke to some people who decided against carrying a gun after taking that class, because they didn’t want to face the dire consequences of the aftermath.
To each his own, I still carry and always will. That risk is worth taking. It’s totally up to you. Don’t feel pressured by your friends and relatives. If you don’t want to carry, that’s perfectly fine. This is not for everyone. If you do decide, please do yourself a favor, make the commitment and get training and carry all the time (where it’s legal of course.)
Why should you own and carry a gun?
Let’s examine the results of calling 911 if you’re being attacked by someone who has no regard for human life. When you ask some people, what they would do if confronted with a person who want’s to commit violence against them, the response is usually predictable. “I’ll just call 911.”
Do you know someone who says that? What do they think will happen? They think a SWAT team will arrive at their house within minutes. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Department of Justice has determined that the best police response time to a 911 call is about 4 minutes and the worst is about 1 hour. (http://www.self-defense-mind-body-spirit.com/average-police-response-time.html) And that depends on where you live. If you’re in a rural area, it’s been known to take almost an hour in some cases. American Police Beat says the average response time is 10 minutes. Who should you believe? It doesn’t matter. The department of justice also determined that that average interaction time between a criminal and his victim is 90 seconds! I’m not going to bet on that response time and I don’t suggest you do either. So the reality is you’re going to be on your own for a long time and it only takes seconds to inflict serious injury or death.
Police are really historians. They arrive after the rape, murder, beating or burglary has been committed and create a report to try to figure out what exactly happened. By then it’s over! You’re finished. Even if you’re still alive, you will suffer the physical and emotional scars of the event forever.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could carry a cop with us all the time? But we can’t. So prudent people carry a gun, because they can’t carry a cop. And did you know that the police are not obligated to protect you anyway? According to the Supreme Court in the case of Castle Rock vs. Gonzales, the police could not be sued for failing to enforce a restraining order, resulting in the killing Jessica Lenahan-Gonzales’ three children by her estranged husband. It was a 7-2 supreme court ruling and it’s one of many that relieve the police from their obligation to protect you. It’s one of many court decisions like that. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/27/AR2005062700580.html)
The bottom line? Protect yourself.
Now, I know that most police officers take their job seriously and really do want to serve and protect. Which is why I say, “I carry a gun, because I can’t carry a cop.” I’m fairly sure that if I had a cop with me 24 hours a day, he or she would do their job. But that’s simply not possible. So, I take responsibility for my own protection and carry a defensive handgun. At the time of this writing, I am a certified Texas CHL (concealed handgun license) instructor. Most of the classes I teach are self defense oriented. But, in Texas, only a 4 hour class is required to get a CHL license, so when asked, I teach it.
I see way too many people buy a gun and 2 boxes of ammo. The go to the range, stand in the shooting lane, shoot one box of that ammo (usually 50 rounds) and store the other box. If they hit a huge target (at about 3 yards) with 30 out of the 50 rounds, they call it good. Do you know anyone like that?
Then they leave the range, and repeat, about once a year. Folks, that’s not training. It’s not even good practice.
You might not realize this, but bad guys train too. They learn to use their guns. Their training comes from the violent streets. They will show up at shooting ranges too, but most of their training comes from hanging out with their gang banger, street thug friends. It’s estimated that bad guys practice with their guns up to 23 times a year! If you think you can defend yourself against these hardened criminals by shooting 50 rounds, once a year at a target 3 yards away, standing still, you’re sorely mistaken.
I encourage you to read an article on a website called Buckeye Firearms Association. http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/9267
Make the decision that you’re going to train, learn to safely use your gun and improve your skills at least once a year. Or…don’t make the decision at all. Human beings have a flight or fight mentality. You might choose flight if you’re alone, but then what will your family do without you if it doesn’t work out?
I’ve also heard people say this; “I don’t go to places where I might need a gun.” If that’s you, let me suggest that you don’t go home! Home invasions and break ins are far more common than they used to be. It’s not your stuff that needs protection, it’s you and your family when you’re at home. This is harsh for some people to read, but I owe you the truth and nothing less.
Once you’ve made the decision, you will probably be like me. An ordinary person, living a regular life, but that little voice starts speaking to you. “‘I’m missing something. I just walked out my front door, started my car to go somewhere, but I feel naked.” What you’re missing is your gun! But this won’t happen right away, give it about 30 days of carrying every day, then it will.
P.S. If you would like to support this blog and my show, please visit www.shootersclubmembers.com for a cool gun giveaway and a lot of educational material. I also have an Amazon Store listed at the top of this website.