Friends,
I haven't yet become comfortable with the concept of owning multiple carry guns, each smaller than the previous, ostensibly for different social occasions. An example would be a full size .45 / 9mm compact / Snubby / Seecamp / NAA.
When asked, people who do this sort of thing often say something like, "Well, I wear my .45 most of the time, but when I can't wear a cover garment I stick the 9mm or the snubby in my pocket. And when that isn't appropriate, I carry the Seecamp or the NAA in a wallet holster". When I hear that, I imagine an armed man from the 1400's, well schooled in the arts of Johannes Liechtenauer, explaining that, "Well, I carry my longsword most of the time. When I'm not, I carry my dagger. And if it's not socially appropriate to carry my dagger, then I carry a sharp rock". That doesn't make much sense to me, either.
We've all heard that amusing quip, "The first rule of gunfighting is to have a gun", but just any gun won't do. Defensive sidearms are notoriously marginal fightstoppers. Basically, if it won't reliably kill a deer, don't use it on a man. You might get him mad. Small sized guns are for experts. Very few men can use a snubby well. Small caliber guns are for people whose affairs are in order. I understand that men have been killed by .22's, but the purpose of a defensive handgun is not to kill one's attacker. It is toreliably stop his behavior. Reliable stoppers begin with the 125 grain .357 mag, skip the entire 9mm family (or so I believe), and begin again with the .40's.
Please don't cry, "It's not the round, it's where you put it!". That's something only a democrat would say. Larger calibers develop larger wound channels. It's 0'dark:30 and there are multiple aggessors. You are in fear of your life. You know that after the first shot everyone will be in movement. Lots of rounds will be fired. And you're going to resolve the situation with your .380? If it were possible to strike, on demand, small (the places you are likely to stop a man with a low powered bullet are quite small) moving targets in the dark, then it seems to me that police departments would issue .22 shorts and save all that money.
So I'm still uncertain about carrying anything but a full caliber (starts at .40 and goes up) sidearm. If the social occasion does not permit an adult pistol, perhaps neither your nor I belong there.
I know I'm probably missing important points in this discussion and would deeply appreciate a little direction. The matter is too important to leave unsettled.
I haven't yet become comfortable with the concept of owning multiple carry guns, each smaller than the previous, ostensibly for different social occasions. An example would be a full size .45 / 9mm compact / Snubby / Seecamp / NAA.
When asked, people who do this sort of thing often say something like, "Well, I wear my .45 most of the time, but when I can't wear a cover garment I stick the 9mm or the snubby in my pocket. And when that isn't appropriate, I carry the Seecamp or the NAA in a wallet holster". When I hear that, I imagine an armed man from the 1400's, well schooled in the arts of Johannes Liechtenauer, explaining that, "Well, I carry my longsword most of the time. When I'm not, I carry my dagger. And if it's not socially appropriate to carry my dagger, then I carry a sharp rock". That doesn't make much sense to me, either.
We've all heard that amusing quip, "The first rule of gunfighting is to have a gun", but just any gun won't do. Defensive sidearms are notoriously marginal fightstoppers. Basically, if it won't reliably kill a deer, don't use it on a man. You might get him mad. Small sized guns are for experts. Very few men can use a snubby well. Small caliber guns are for people whose affairs are in order. I understand that men have been killed by .22's, but the purpose of a defensive handgun is not to kill one's attacker. It is toreliably stop his behavior. Reliable stoppers begin with the 125 grain .357 mag, skip the entire 9mm family (or so I believe), and begin again with the .40's.
Please don't cry, "It's not the round, it's where you put it!". That's something only a democrat would say. Larger calibers develop larger wound channels. It's 0'dark:30 and there are multiple aggessors. You are in fear of your life. You know that after the first shot everyone will be in movement. Lots of rounds will be fired. And you're going to resolve the situation with your .380? If it were possible to strike, on demand, small (the places you are likely to stop a man with a low powered bullet are quite small) moving targets in the dark, then it seems to me that police departments would issue .22 shorts and save all that money.
So I'm still uncertain about carrying anything but a full caliber (starts at .40 and goes up) sidearm. If the social occasion does not permit an adult pistol, perhaps neither your nor I belong there.
I know I'm probably missing important points in this discussion and would deeply appreciate a little direction. The matter is too important to leave unsettled.