A perfect example!

Ok, here's exactly what I'm talking about, here's the reason that you need to at least own a firearm and know how to use it.

A friend of mine was accosted, at home, in front of his son, by some looney with a knife. Now, I'll admit her did know said looney, but this guy was off his rocker and brandished a knife...in front of my friend's son, at their front door.

Ok, a few things could have happened here.

1. Looney stabs/slashes friend... bad.
2. Looney doesn't and cops are called (what actually happened)
3. Looney attempts to stab/slash friend and friend defends himself with a firearm.

Best choice? Option 2, without a doubt. I want to carry, just in case, but as I've said, I want the bullets to rust of old age before I ever have to use them. I've said that before and I'm still saying it... I never want to have to draw my weapon. I would rather boogie out of the situation.

However, let's say that looney is seriously not well, I mean he's snapped all but for sure. He's gone bye-bye to reality. It isn't too hard to imagine, I mean he was brandishing a knife at some other dude while at the front door of other dude's house.

Ok, well... guess who could have gone home in a bag that day? If you said Looney, you're half right. Either my friend or Looney could have died that day. If looney was determined he could have easily killed my friend. However...had friend carried a gun on him... you get the point.

A salient point to this story is that in my state, you don't have the duty to retreat in your own home. If a guy is at your door or in your house and you feel you are in imminent danger, then you are within your right to defend yourself. Also, considering his kid was right there with him... You get the picture.

So, my friend and his wife have decided that they want to purchase a firearm. I think that's a good idea, obviously. They want me to help them pick it out, and train with it... I'm flattered and as qualified as anyone, I guess, to give them the basics.

At any rate, this is the kind of stuff that you don't expect to have happen. However, you never know when it will.

And now, we wait...

The hardest part about getting your CCW isn't picking the right firearm or holster or even taking the class. It is, in fact, the waiting.

I turned my form in Monday morning, I got fingerprinted, poked, prodded, inspected, injected, etc. And now... I wait.

I can wait 3 weeks, I can wait 3 months, there's no telling how long it will take. The maximum is 90 days, however, it appears to be running about a month based on my friend who just recently got his experienced.

Anyway... the waiting is the difficult part, but worth it in the end.

Revolver Ammo

I was reviewing some of my older posts and I realized that I had completely skipped over the revolver calibers in my description of what I think and what are popularly considered self-defense calibers.

Again, I'm a little biased here as I've decided to carry a revolver. Some people would say that I'm under-gunned and will be a dead man should I have to engage multiple attackers. Well...to that I say with confidence, "bite me".

6 shots, well placed, with a good carry caliber will handle 3 men. 6 shoots, not as well placed, with a good carry caliber will handle 2 men. So, unless I'm taking on an entire Mexican cartel, I should be in good shape. But I digress...

Revolvers have less choices in caliber than semi-automatics do, tis true.

.38 Special:
This is the tried and true revolver load. It's cheap to shoot and packs a good punch. If a manufacturer makes a revolver, they make one in .38, just a fact of life. The police and military carried .38s for about 3,245 years and it worked like a champ. It's simple, effective, light recoil, all in all, a good round.

The only downside is if you have an ultralight/airweight revolver, then it will buck and bark like mad and it is exactly NO fun to shoot. Just keep that in mind.

.327 Federal
I have no had the chance to personally try out this caliber, however, everything I've read says that it gives you .38+p power with 30% less recoil. To me that spells winner!

.32 H&R
A nice easy round. Not the easiest to find, but it packs a pretty good wallop and doesn't kick hardly at all. If you are recoil adverse, then this might be a good place to start looking.

.44 Special
A big, but slow, round. Not bad to shoot at all. When you get this size, however, you are really making for a bulky cylinder in your revolver. However, if you can comfortably carry it, go for it. I've shot this through a single action cowboy gun before and it's a honey. It is pricey though. The upside is that it will chamber in a revolver made for .44 Magnum... speaking of which;

.44 Magnum
Big, bad, Buick stopping power. Not too bad to shoot if you have the right pistol for it. I wouldn't suggest a 3 inch barrel for this one as it's just too hard to control and you're going to think someone took a hammer to your hand. Although the .44 Magnum will get the job done; be prepared to shell out BUCKS for this ammo.

...last but not least...

.357 Magnum
I've mentioned this one before. It will do the job. It has the answers to all of life's burning questions. This is the round that looks at Dirty Harry and calls him "punk". The only thing on two legs that this won't stop would be Chuck Norris. It is considered by most to be the ultimate, gold standard, one stop shot round.
A study found that this caliber has up 95% one shot stop capability with incapacitation in as little as 5 seconds.
Easy to find, not too bad on recoil and fairly cheap for a good solid round.

This is my personal choice, in case you were wondering.

My personal philosophy on choosing a weapon

I've gone around the bend on this a couple of time, if not more, on this blog when speaking about which weapon a person should get.

I've reviewed different types of weapons, different calibers, different holsters, etc etc, I've even changed my mind a couple of times on what I'm willing and will probably end up carrying.

However, I'm not sure that I've ever really stated what I would suggest to someone were they to ask me what I thought.

I have had a couple of people ask me before what I thought and my answer has been fairly unwavering. Get something that you are comfortable with. Test out as many as you can and find one that feels comfortable in your hand, that doesn't blast so hard it startles you and something that you feel you will carry with you a good portion of the time.

I know some people who say "get this gun and then get used to it". I do NOT subscribe to this idea. I'm not going to "get used to something", thank you. I'm going to get something that is immediately comfortable to me. I don't want to have to work at something to make sure I conform to it.

When you buy a car, do you say "well, this one has all the features, but I just don't like the seats or where the controls are, but I'll get it anyway and get used to it"? Nope, you don't. Why should it be any different for a firearm?

So, I'd say test out revolvers and semi-autos and find one that feels right to you.
Maybe you don't like the complexity of a semi, that's fine, get a wheel gun. You don't like a .45 or a 9mm, get a .380 or a .32.

I've found my gun of choice. It's a revolver, a .357 GP-100. As I said in my review, we were meant to be together. It was instinctive and comfortable. I can shoot the heck out of this thing too, so all in all, it's the one for me.

And believe me, I've tried a boat load of different guns out there. I've tried every popular caliber except for .32 and .25 (hard to find rentals in that caliber) and I've tried almost all of the top tier and 2nd tier manufacturers. I've tried Smith, Springfield, Taurus, Ruger, Bersa, Glock, you name it.

So, to sum up, get what is comfortable and what will lend itself to consistent carry and consistent practice.

My two cents.