Concealed Carry Page 3

"Americans have the right and advantages of being armed - unlike citizens of the countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." - James Madison, The Federalist Papers

Which Gun is for Me?

Selecting a CCW is a highly subjective, individualized process; what works for one person may not work for another. It is YOUR life that you will be protecting, and it is YOU who must live and train with the chosen weapon.

Many people buying their first carry gun are liable to be influenced by the portrayal of guns by Hollywood, and/or by what they read in gun magazines. The opinions of uninformed screenwriters and paid industry spokespeople, as well as those of most gunshop owners and well-meaning shooting acquaintances, should not be the sole basis for such a critical decision. The only way to determine which handgun best suits your needs is to do as much first-hand research as possible, and integrate that experience with information gained from other sources to make your decision. Read all you can about concealed carry and various types of handguns, talk to other shooters, go to gun shows, but most importantly SHOOT as many different guns as you can before you buy! You may find the pistol that handles so well at the gunshop is an uncontrollable monster when it comes time to put lead downrange. If you have access to a range that rents pistols, great. Otherwise go to the range with a friend, or go to the range and make new friends! Just as you would not consider buying a certain model of car without a test drive, nor should you buy a firearm without shooting one of that type if at all possible.

In my part-time job at a local gun shop, I frequently get asked by new shooters which gun is "best" for concealed carry. Rather than recommend a particular make or model right away (remember, my opinion is no more valid than any of the others listed above), I try to identify what the person's needs and requirements are, and work from there to determine which weapon(s) will best suit that individual. Some of the things I take into account are:

What will the gun be used for? Obviously, the same criteria do not apply to CCWs as apply to target guns, or defense guns that will reside at home or in the car.
What is the individual's lifestyle, and what will his/her primary mode of carry be? This also takes into account physical stature, style of dress, and similar factors.
What is the experience level of the individual? Does he/she have a shooting background, or have they never pulled a trigger before?
What does the individual require of the weapon? Their pre-existing thoughts on size, caliber, capacity, action, etc. are factored in.

Having used the individual's needs and requirements to construct a list of suitable CCWs, it comes time to actually select a make and model. I do have my personal preferences, some of which are addressed below. However, my golden rule for concealed carry - which I believe applies to everyone - is

Carry the largest gun you can conceal in the largest caliber you can shoot effectively.

CCW Questions and Answers

The material below represents my own ideas and opinions, and may not be suitable for everyone. I encourage you to utilize them as you would any other piece of subjective information in making your decision.
SEMI-AUTO or REVOLVER?
Many old-school shooters recommend starting out with revolver of some sort, usually a large- or medium-frame .357. This, they argue, allows a new shooter to start out with light .38 Special loads and work up to the hotter .357 Magnum as their skill and confidence increases. Thus, the same gun they learn to target shoot with can also be carried for defense without having to learn a new weapon. Another piece of "conventional wisdom" often heard in gun shops advocates a lightweight, short-barreled .38 revolver for female shooters. I don't subscribe to either of these schools of thought when it comes to a new shooter's first concealed carry weapon.

The modern double-action revolver is arguably more reliable than a semi-automatic pistol, but it is also probably the most difficult type of handgun to shoot well. If the operator is just learning to shoot, they don't need their job made any more difficult by selecting a firearm that's less than accommodating. Lightweight, carry-sized ("snub-nose") revolvers sacrifice much to their semi-auto counterparts, with few advantages. They have a limited capacity - usually five rounds instead of the seven or more carried in a small semi-auto - and are slower to reload, generally have poor sights, deliver prodigious recoil in the +P .38 and .357 Mag loadings, and are harder to conceal than similar-sized semi-autos.

The semi-automatic pistol is initially more complicated to manipulate than a revolver, but is easier to master. And if an operator isn't willing to learn the manual of arms for his defensive weapon, should he be carrying one in the first place? To boot, semi-autos are flatter and easier to conceal than similar-sized wheelguns, have a higher ammo capacity in all but the smallest forms, are quicker to reload and are available in a wide variety of calibers.

My Opinion - the DA revolver is reliable and has a lot of "class appeal" as a CCW, but unless you can effectively conceal a medium-frame, 4" barreled gun, forget it. With all the choices available today in compact semi-autos, the .38/.357 snubbie just doesn't make the kind of sense it once did.

WHICH CALIBER?
Guns suitable for CCW are available in a bewildering array of calibers these days, and much debate is devoted to (and wasted on) which one is most effective. Also tied up in this is the matter of bullet design/weight/velocity, and how it relates to "stopping power." The second part of my Golden Rule dismisses all this frivolity - the "best" caliber is the largest one you can shoot effectively. This means not only that you should be able shoot well enough to get rapid center-mass and head hits at range, but also that the gun/round combination is comfortable enough that you can shoot a few hundred in a session without discomfort.

I recommend the .38 Special or 9x19mm as the minimum self-defense caliber. With the current crop of subcompact 9mm/.40/.45 pistols, there's just no reason to go down to a .380, .32 or .22 for a primary defensive handgun, unless you have a medical condition that precludes you from shooting anything but these "mousegun" calibers. I do have a .32 auto that I carry on a constant basis, but it is generally as a backup to more "serious" hardware, or in instances when I absolutely cannot conceal anything larger.

As to type of round, I believe that shot placement is vastly more important than bullet design. Any of the modern hollowpoint designs will do the job if you do your part and put the rounds where they need to go. I DO recommend hollowpoints for defense use; they are, on the whole, more likely to stop an assailant and less likely to overpenetrate than FMJ "ball" rounds.

SEMI-AUTO ACTION TYPE?
Semi-automatics are available in several different action types:

Single-Action (SA) - The gun's hammer must be manually cocked before the first shot; thereafter, the cycling of the slide automatically recocks the hammer. The trigger is responsible only for causing the hammer to fall, and trigger pull is short and consistent. Most SA autos have a manual thumb safety that allows the gun to be carried "cocked and locked," with the hammer back and the safety applied.
Traditional Double-Action (DA or DA/SA) - The initial trigger pull is long and heavy, as it both cocks AND releases the hammer. Thereafter, the gun functions in SA, with a shorter trigger movement. DA/SA guns can be had with manual safeties, decockers only, or both.
Double-Action-Only (DAO) - The trigger pull is consistently long and heavy, as it both cocks and releases the hammer on every shot. There are typically no manual safety devices on DAO pistols, as the hammer follows the slide forward and cannot be left in a cocked state.
Striker-Fired - These guns have no hammer per se, but are fired by an internal striker, which is partially cocked while at rest. The trigger pull completes the cocking stroke, then releases the striker to fire the gun. Trigger feel can be said to resemble either a short DA or a long SA. Striker-fired guns, like DAO designs, generally do not have manual safety levers or decockers.

I do not recommend SA autos for carry, especially for beginners. The trigger pull is light (usually around 4 lbs), trigger travel is short, and the gun must be decocked by manually lowering the hammer while the trigger is pulled. These design factors increase the likelihood of a negligent discharge by an inexperienced operator, especially under the stress of a defensive situation. Also, I do not believe in manual safeties on carry guns, and eschew both SA and traditional DA autos (with manual safeties or combination decocker-safeties) for this reason. Manual safeties offer a false sense of security, and may lead to novice users practicing less-than-perfect gun handling. All mechanical devices can fail, and a safety lever is no substitute for proper gun handling discipline. Further, a manual safety can accidentally get flicked off or on without the owner's knowledge. A final complicating factor is that under stress, fine motor skills - like those needed to disengage a safety lever - are going to go out the window. You probably couldn't hit the lever without fumbling, if you even remembered to do it at all! If the time comes that you need your CCW, you will need it that instant, and being able to get the first shot off quickly and cleanly is critical! Thus, for the average armed citizen, I recommend either a striker-fired or DAO pistol for carry use. A DA/SA pistol with decocker only may also be acceptable, but I believe the vast difference in trigger pull from the first to second and subsequent shots makes this type of pistol among the most difficult types to shoot proficiently. A consistent trigger, be it consistently long or consistently short, is much more conducive to good shooting.

If you plan on having a "battery" of carry guns - which is a good thing - try to keep them all of similar design and action type! You won't have that extra second to think "Am I carrying the SA or the DAO gun today? Do I need to take off a safety? Is 'off' the up or down position?" BANG! Too late, you're dead.

MAKE & MODEL?
Ahh, now we get to the tough part. As you can probably tell from the other sections of my site, I'm an unabashed GLOCK fan. The Kahr pistols, which are similar but smaller, have also impressed me enough to occupy a berth in my gun safe. Everything else is somewhere in the fair-to-crap range. :-) But seriously, that's just the way my personal tastes run. I have found Glocks and Kahrs to point and shoot very well for me, and they have all the features I want (and none that I don't) at a reasonable price. But I do realize that not everyone will like what I like. Therefore, I can only make two blanket recommendations in this matter:
1) Get the best quality you can afford. This does not necessarily equate to the most expensive gun, but you do get what you pay for. How much is YOUR life worth?
2) Stick with a proven brand. This is one of the few cases where paying a little more for a "name" can actually do you some good. You generally can't go wrong with the quality offered by Glock, SIG, HK, S&W, Ruger, CZ, Beretta or Kahr. Second-tier manufacturers like Taurus, Bersa, Kel-Tec and Llama would probably do fine if you're on a more restricted budget. Also bear in mind that used guns from the top-tier companies are also a viable option.

So that's my quick-n-dirty primer on choosing a CCW. I'd be more than happy to go into more detail or answer questions on an individual basis. Email me!

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