Category: Carrying / Self-Defense

Squeaky Wheel has settled on her weapon of choice.  It happens to be the same as mine.  It won’t let her down.

Remember the reporter a while ago who bought a cheap piece of junk pocket pistol intending to get a concealed carry license in Kansas?  He took his class, and wrote about it.   Zendo Deb has the details.

Via The Madman Raves, we have opposing points of view.   Nothing we haven’t heard before, but I love the name “Independent Alligator” for a student newspaper.  This is a very difficult issue for us to win on, because it’s too easily painted with imagery of handing out guns to students at frat parties.  I don’t think we should call for “arming students” or “arming professors”.   That needs to be banished from our rhetoric, and it’s not what we’re trying to do anyway.

This is a political battle you fight outside the context of any tragedy or incident.  Neither the Appalachian Law School shooting, which was stopped by armed students, nor Virginia Tech, which was caused by one, seems to have created any significant movement for getting universities or state lawmakers to change their mind about firearms on campus.  That probably will never change.

It’s important to note that there is nothing in Virginia law that prevents a student with a valid CHL from carrying a firearm on any college campus in Virginia.  I’ve long said, responsible and well trained gun carriers need not worry themselves about policy issues.  The people who make those policies are worried about not getting blamed and/or sued.  If you’re serious about carrying a firearm for self-defense, and if you’re doing it, you better damned well be serious about it, you take the risk.  Our lives, and the lives of those around us, are worth more than a lawsuit or negative press.

Via John Lott, a women, frustrated with Philadelphia’s gun violence, tears up her own carry license.  Clearly she was trying to lead by example, and get the gang members to tear their carry licenses up too.

Man, it’s hard to even write that with a straight face.

Sqeaky Wheel is looking for first time gun buying advice. I’m going to assume she’s not completely novice shooting, because I advise novices to start with an inexpensive .22LR semi-auto, work out the basics, and then move up to a pistol with actual recoil.

For concealed carry, I’m a fan of semi-autos. They are easier to shoot accurately, carry more cartridges, and are easy to reload. Of the pistols she lists, I would go with either the Glock 19 (which is what I carry) or the Springfield XD.

However, I am a 6’3″, 230lb male. I can conceal a compact frame pistol without too much difficulty. Carry for women is a more difficult proposition, because there’s no really good way to conceal. Women have curves in the wrong places for concealing a gun, and unless you’re ok with wearing baggy clothes all the time, it can be a real problem.

The best method for women is probably purse carry, but to do that you need to invest in a quality carry purse that allows quick and easy access. If you can’t draw and present the gun for firing in a few seconds, you need to rethink your method. Especially if you plan to carry a semi-auto, it’s vitally important that the firearm be contained in a proper holster within the purse. Some purse holsters come with fabric holsters that I think are entirely inadequate, because they don’t allow for easy re-holstering. If you see one with retention straps on it, ditch them. If the firearm is secure in the gun compartment of the purse, they are superfluous, and will complicate your draw. You will also need to be very careful about placing down the purse. If you’re the kind of person that misplaces it, purse carry is not for you. This is one area there’s no room for error. You also have to be prepared to thwart purse snatchers, and be prepared for them; if they get your purse, they get your gun too.

There are other deep concealment methods that can work if you practice them enough, but I’ve always been skeptical of their utility in a stress situation.

If you’re a Virginian, and just had this happen to you, VCDL wants to talk to you.

It seems to me that this is more of a case of a victory for following the friggin law.  It’s perfectly legal to carry an unloaded firearm in Illinois on your person, except in Chicago, where handguns are illegal.  Unloaded, under Illinois law, meaning no round in the chamber, or no loaded magazine in the gun.  I’ll call it a victory for the second amendment in Illinois if Chicago gets its oh so effective gun ban thrown out.

The evil twin has a story from Virginia about an open carry arrest in Norfolk (open carry is legal in Virginia).  My advice to folks who choose the route of challenging local authorities on state preemption matters such as this is to retain an attorney, and make sure your spouse understands exactly what she needs to do if you get pinched, and is prepared to do it.  After being arrested isn’t the time to go find a lawyer.

VCDL is going a good job here though, and I wish them well in their lawsuit against the City of Norfolk on this matter.

I have to disagree with Scalawag over this one (which was linked earlier by David Codrea, talking about the dumbass gun shop owner) I have absolutely no fear of an AK-47 as a rifle, but if I see someone walking down my neighborhood toting a loaded rifle, then yes, I’m going to call the police. Context matters, and that’s something that’s way way out of place in a suburban setting.

Rifles are something you carry to deal with an expected threat, in other words, if the shit has already hit the fan. We carry pistols to deal with unexpected threats. While I would agree that disorderly charges against someone with a holstered, visible side arm would be unjust and unwarranted, and there are many contexts where I would accept the carrying of a loaded rifle, the streets of suburbia aren’t one of them.

I might think a stern talking to would be better than charges here, but we don’t live in a world where you can expect the kind of encounters on foot where a rifle can be effectively employed. Keep one in your home, keep one in your vehicle, but being out on the streets, you’re better off carrying a pistol for close encounters of the criminal variety, and not just so you don’t scare the sheeple.

Sure, I do wish we lived in a world where you could sling a rifle and carry it over to a friend’s house to work on that trigger job, but that’s not the world we inhabit. No one gets educated or relieved of their ignorance by seeing an AK-47 being carrying down the streets of their neighborhood. If anything, it will only feed it.

Feel free to disagree.