Rifle Ramblings

I bought a Marlin 795SS .22LR rifle on Saturday and went out shooting on Sunday. That thing is a blast to shoot. It is super accurate even shooting off-hand with open sights, didn't fail to feed or eject a single round the whole day, and was just loads of fun. Maybe for Christmas, I will buy myself a scope for it. I am super pleased with my choice here.

Also, while talking with the owner of the land where I go shoot, it came out that I had an air rifle. He seemed very interested in it, and I he was talking about taking it on a deer hunt. He said that quail come and sit only 10-20 yards from the deer stand while they are sitting there waiting for a deer to show up, and he wanted something to take the quail that would not be loud enough to scare them off, was accurate, and allowed multiple shots in succession. Sounds like a job for the 1077. So he will be off tomorrow for the hunt with my loaner 1077 in tow. He was convinced he needed to just go buy one ASAP. I figure he'll get one after he gets back if it works out for the quail. I know that with the red dot I could make head shots at quail at 15 yards and certainly the 1077 will kill them with head shots. It's quiet enough, and allows reasonably quick follow-up shots so you can shoot multiple quail sort of "at once". Novel idea. Here's a case where a more powerful or well-accepted single-shot air rifle would not get the job done.

Uh-Oh-Bama

I think we, as a society, as a population of Americans, collectively failed.

We failed to be qualified to vote.

Sure, most of those of us who voted were legally qualified to vote, but we were intellectually unqualified.

Don't believe me? See this web site, and watch the video.

If most people are idiots, then the result of Democracy is that the country is run by idiots.

When Seconds Count ... The Downfall of Gun Free Zones

This video, and the accompanying article, are sobering reminders of what happens when only the criminals have guns, and the risk of relying upon the police to provide 100% of our armed defense.

Quotes from the video:

"'All schools are gun-free zones. These people know that when they go in there.'"
"That's right. The vast majority of mass murders have occurred in so-called 'gun-free zones'"
"Someone who's intent on committing mass murder isn't really going to be deterred by a sign that tells them that they can't have a gun at that location"
"And now the tacticians believe these signs may actually serve as an invitation to mass murderers."
"So they choose a school or a mall that has the signs on it that says 'come here and shoot me because there is nobody here that is armed."

Another quote: "Statistics show shootings kill far more students than fires".

Listen people: the police cannot protect you. It is simply a mathematical impossibility. They cannot be there fast enough. "Gun-free zones" simply disarm law-abiding citizens, but it makes them sitting ducks for someone who intends to do mass murder. I mean, how exactly is someone going to stop armed gunmen from coming into a gun-free zone?

For example, my workplace is a "no-guns" place, with a gunbuster sign as well as a probably-not-enforceable 30.06 sign. The front desk is manned by a receptionist. There is no armed security in the building. There are security personnel who roam the halls but they are unarmed, not even "rent-a-cop" level people. Really they are mostly there to make sure someone didn't leave a tripping hazard in the hallway or the fire exits are not blocked. If a disgruntled employee, who has a valid badge to get into the moderately-secure door, were to come in they would simply walk right past the receptionist with whatever guns in plain view, use their badge to get in the door while the receptionist pees her pants, and then go in and shoot whomever they please including the cowering security guys armed with their walkie-talkies. This would go on for about 20 minutes until the police could show up and MAYBE get in there and take out the bad guy. How many disarmed people would he be able to kill?

There is no sense in gun-free zones.

Marlin 795

I went back to Academy and asked if they could get a Marlin 795 in. They looked and found they had three in stock, just none on display. So they opened one up so I could take a look at it.

I think this is the one. It does indeed have a similar feel in the hands as a Model 60. The stock appears to be just about the same size, shape, but just synthetic. It has a number of different features from other .22 rifles I checked out that set it apart.

• Excellent sights. Ghost ring front, orange dot, folding rear sight
• Bolt locks open when the chamber is empty, has a release lever ahead of the trigger where the crossbolt safety is on most rifles. For someone used to running semi-auto pistols, this is very cool. Put in the mag with the bolt open, flip the lever and let it chamber. I like it.
• Comes with sling swivels installed from the factory .. hey it's a small touch, but one less thing to mess with
• Monte-Carlo type stock, with a raised comb for better fit.

I do think the Mossberg 702 is a copy of the Marlin 795 mechanically. However it doesn't have the bolt release lever, and the stock is shaped differently.

Now I just need to get the money to go out and buy it.

.22 Rifles

If you've read my Nonconformist Guide posts, then you know that I did not start out shooting guns like most adults who own guns.

When I was a kid, growing up in Arkansas, indeed I did want to get guns like normal southern boys did. I got my first BB gun when I was about 8, for Christmas. It would have been normal for me to get a .22 rifle when I was 12, but we had moved to Texas and I got a guitar instead. The rest is history.

At the moment I have no interest in hunting. But I have really enjoyed shooting my pellet rifle and we had a kick shooting my dad's .22 rifle at the range. I didn't think it would be so much fun. Pistols are strictly functional for me. I carry one for self defense, I shoot it for practice. But shooting rifles is fun.

So my next gun purchase will probably be a .22 rifle.

I want a semi-automatic. I am still making up my mind on the rest. I think I want a box magazine. I also am leaning towards a stainless barrel and synthetic stock. I am looking in the $200 range. I went to Academy the other day and handled most of those on my short list. Bear in mind, I have not shot any of them. Here are my comments on my short list:

Mossberg 702, $99 for blued/synthetic version. This gun looks a whole lot like a copy of the Marlin 795, except for the shape of the stock, and of course the overall feeling of quality. For $99 this gun looks like a killer deal. In fact, it was among my favorites in terms of just feel and handling. The factory sight is really cool, with the ring front sight. The gun feels real solid, and the bolt lever is very nice. The gun does not exude quality of workmanship or refinement of finish and parts, but for $99, what do you expect? I am very tempted to buy one of these. I am not in love with the stock, and I would prefer stainless.

Savage 64, $119 for synthetic/blued includes a pack-in scope. I didn't actually get to handle one of these. I have heard reports that this is a copy of a Marlin 795 but clearly it is not. I might be tempted for the price, but for $20 less and no scope, I would take the Mossberg.

Marlin Model 60, $139 for blued/birch version. I handled this gun and I liked it a lot, right off the bat. The feel was very comfortable. It has a superior quality feel to the gun, the fit and finish are superb. The price is great! This may be the best possible value. If I were into a wood stock, blued finish, tube magazine gun, I would buy this in a second. Maybe I need one of each. The raised comb on the buttstock fit me better than any of the other guns I tried and it felt more like a "full size" gun than most of the others. I like it. I like it a lot. I might have to change my preferences.


Remington 597, $149 or blued/synthetic version. I handled a couple of these, in synthetic and wood, and including a .22WMR gun. These have a superior feel of quality, excellent balance, and just look and feel great. I really liked this gun a lot. I am going to have to spend some quality time with this vs. a Marlin 795 before I can make up my mind. If I find one with a stainless barrel it will make this a much harder choice. 30-round magazines are available aftermarket, although not abundant.


Marlin 795, $199 for stainless/synthetic version. I didn't actually find one of these to handle, but Academy has them on the web site. From what I hear, this is basically just like a Model 60 but with a box magazine. I loved the feel of the Model 60 in my hands. It looks like the 795 is identical in dimensions, stock shape/design, etc. If so,then this will probably end up being the one. It will be a tough choice between the Marlin and a SS Remington 597. I cannot find any high-capacity magazines for this gun. That may be a deciding factor.


Ruger 10/22, $229 for stainless/synthetic version. Everybody suggests the Ruger 10/22 is the "ultimate" semi-auto .22. They say it's the standard by which all others are judged. I don't know. It did not feel right to me. It felt too small. I also handled a birch stock 10/22 and it was a couple of pounds heavier, as well as fatter. The gun just does not feel like a real gun. The abundance of aftermarket parts may make it possible to change the stock, trigger group, other parts in order to get it to have the better feel but why? It costs more than the Remington or Marlin and does not have the feel. The lifetime warranty and excellent track record, plus easy to find 30 and 50 round magazines are the biggest selling points.

If I had to just drop the money and do something, I think I want one each, a birch and blue Marlin Model 60 and a synthetic and stainless Remington 597. I am going to have to spend some more time with these two guns and do some more research before I can make up my mind.

This is my Christmas list, if anyone's buying :)

Please leave comments about these choices since I'm all ears.

Cheap Ammo?

You can look at gun-deals.com for ammo deals, which may appear to be a great deal at first. Today, the best deal on quality 9mm (that is, not Monarch or reloads) is CCI Blazer aluminum-case ammo. The Blazer ammo has mixed reviews and reports of extreme failure in some cases, but it is cheap! On the other hand, the Winchester "White Box" 9mm ammo you can get from Wal Mart is widely regarded as top quality.

So let's compare the deals.

The Blazer 9mm from Natchez is $7.50 for a 50-round box. Rounding a couple of pennies, Winchester White Box from Wal Mart is $20 for 100 rounds. So it seems like a pretty good deal, right? Let's look at the numbers, including tax or shipping as appropriate.

# rounds WWB@WalMart Blazer@Natchez
100 $21.60 $27.94
200 $43.20 $43.40
500 $108.00 $89.84
1000 $216.00 $170.17

So if you buy more than 200 rounds at a time, the Blazer at 75% of the price of WWB is a better deal online. But for 200 rounds or less, you might as well pick up the better ammo at Wal Mart.

I realize this is comparing apples to oranges, or in this case, brass to aluminum. The WWB is probably better ammo and worth a little more than the Blazer, but for bulk practice ammo there may be little difference.

If you are buying other things online, of course, then the shipping charges are being paid for by some other item's price, so you might as well throw in some ammo while you are at it.

Ammo bargain hunter, signing out.

The Dreaded "Man Purse"

I admit it: I have a collection of messenger bags. Yes, some like to call this a "man purse". Really, that's what it is. You may know them by their other names such as "man bag", "shoulder bag", "jack pack" with reference to one carried by Jack Bauer on 24.

From a practical standpoint, it is hard to argue against the utility of carrying a messenger bag for guys. Let's face it, these days we carry a lot of junk with us. It used to be just a wallet, keys, maybe a pocket knife. None of these items would crack or break if flexed wrong or banged on a table as you walk by. Now we have a cell phone, iPod, sometimes a PDA in addition to the cell phone, digital camera, maybe some other things we'd like to always have with us like a pen, note pad, a pack of gum, etc. Just add some makeup and you have the contents of a typical purse!

Some of us also carry a laptop, which fits easily in most messenger bags.

Once you can get over the stigma of carrying a bag that some rednecks call a "man purse", then you may find them very useful. Right now, I have the following things in my bag: my keys, a Bible, a notepad, couple of pens, iPod, two pairs of earphones, business cards, two multi-tools, a pocket knife, a flashlight... and depending on where I am going I might also have a portable 4-track digital recorder in there, my laptop, maps, or whatever else I might need.

Normally, I carry a nice leather messenger bag that I got from Wilson's Leather Outlet. This bag looks good with nearly any casual clothing up to a sport coat and jeans. I also have a messenger bag I carry when I commute on my bicycle; a nylon/polyester Eastsport bag that is bigger, carries my laptop, sometimes clothing, my lunch, spare tubes and CO2 cartridges, etc. I have a variety of other messenger bags that I use for other purposes like hiking or if I need to keep things dry, etc.

Now the use of "off-body carry" for a concealed handgun is a very controversial topic. A messenger bag lends itself to this mode of carry quite well, better than a typical woman's purse and better than a fanny pack in many respects.

First of all, a fanny pack is not a normal, fashionable accessory. I am sorry if you are older or have outdated fashion sense, but for Gen-X guys, a fanny pack is also known as a "fag bag" or a "dork pack". Some say a fanny pack "screams gun", which means, anyone will guess you have a gun in there. I don't agree. It may "scream gun" to a bunch of other CHL holders or cops but it "screams" dork to everyone else. Furthermore, if the rest of your clothes do not say dork then a fanny pack looks out of place. This is why it "screams gun", because most of us CHL holders would see this out of place fashion accessory and figure, why would that guy be carrying that, other than to carry a gun?

A messenger bag, on the other hand, looks much more normal for a fashion-conscious Gen-X guy to be carrying. Maybe some folks are going to make fun of you for carrying a "man purse" but they are not going to immediately associate it with a gun. In fact they are more likely to immediately associate it with carrying a laptop computer.

Messenger bags have a lot going for them for concealed carry. One of these things is positioning. I carry my messenger bag over my shoulder, with the strap over my left shoulder and the bag on my right side. The strap is adjusted so the bag sits right where my strong side hand can get into it easily. Another thing it has going for it is misdirection. Since a gun is not the only thing in your bag, most people will not figure you are getting a gun out of the bag. If you suspect trouble, you can reach in the bag and get a grip on your gun, even draw it, while still keeping it concealed. You may not even expose the gun in case the threat is resolved without drawing, but you will have actually drawn the gun under the flap of the messenger bag.

Now, there is not a lot of information out there about using a messenger bag for concealed carry. There is a lot of information for women about using a purse for carry (which is not the greatest idea, IMHO), but not much of it applies to messenger bags. There are a number of dedicated messenger bags or shoulder bags out there made especially for concealed carry, which include a hoslter inside the bag. The Maxpedition packs of this variety are not only expensive, but they are overly tacticool looking for most normal use. Maybe if you are really a bigtime geek, they will look natural. The maker of Crossbreed holsters offers a nice looking leather messenger bag for CCW but it is very expensive. You don't need this type of dedicated bag. Almost any normal messenger bag can be made to work. It helps to know what to look for when shopping for a CCW-compatible messenger bag.

Most messenger bags have some features in common. Normally they are constructed with a large main compartment and a large flap that completely covers the front of the bag. Under the flap, the outside of the bag usually has a variety of shaped pockets to hold things like pens, an iPod, cell phone, etc. Usually inside the main compartment, they will have one or more pockets, often times one on the body-side with a zipper to hold change or things like that, and sometimes other pockets inside the main compartment. Many messenger bags also have a body-side pocket that is closed with velcro or no closure, that is flat and thin but runs the whole length of the exterior of the bag that rests against your body when you carry it. And most messenger bags also have some kind of large pocket on the flap that folds over the front of the bag. These pockets are the key to the usefulness for CHL.

Thinking about how you would draw from the pack, opening the flap does not seem like the best way. So getting a bag with a body-side pocket can be a very good thing for the storage of your CCW. However, keeping the gun in position in this type of pocket may not be simple. The easiest way is to fit a holster (such as a cheap Uncle Mike's or other pocket holster) into this pocket, and perhaps secure it in there somehow so it doesn't move around. You might use safety pins or something to hold it in place. In one of my bags, I made a panel that is the size of the interior of the pocket with velcro that allows me to stick a holster in there. The problem with this approach is that if you use a very big gun in there, it tends to hold that pocket open and interferes with good concealment. With the right thin, light pistol such as my Kahr CW9 or a Kel-Tec PF9, this solution is about the best way of using a messenger bag for concealed carry.

The next option is to put the gun in the main compartment somewhere. A bag with a zipper or other pocket that lays flat with the inside surface that is nearest the body side is the best choice for this. The zipper pocket should be large enough to fit a pocket holster in it, and to fit the pistol in there. Then you can just put a pocket holster in it and put whatever gun you want in there. To change the angle or get the grip to stick up out of the pocket, use safety pins to change the depth or shape of the inside of the pocket.

The outside zip pocket that you typically find on the flap of a messenger bag might be a good place to keep a gun but it will knock around a whole lot when you do have to get to anything other than the gun in the bag. I wouldn't suggest it for this reason. Those outside-flap pockets are great for subway maps or business cards.

With a little creativity and a pocket holster, you can adapt most bags to work. It would probably be best to get the right pocket holster first, and then take it shopping with you for the bag. Test-fit the holster in the pocket you intend to use and see how it's going to work. Getting a bag that has a strap that can be adjusted so that you can carry it on your strong side and get the correct grip on the gun is important.

Now, one last note about using a messenger bag for off-body carry. Just like any other mode of carry, practice makes perfect. If you are going to use a messenger bag to carry a weapon, then you should probably get in the habit of carrying the bag most of the time. When you have a gun in there, you absolutely have to carry the bag 100% of the time, don't set it down, don't leave it anywhere. If you don't always carry in the messenger bag and don't want to get made by friends or acquaintances who don't know you carry, then you should make a habit of carrying the bag all the time even if you are not carrying a pistol in it.

For example, I carry my messenger bag all the time. Most of the time I carry my Kahr IWB with a FIST K3. Sometimes I have the pistol in the bag. Everyone knows I have this bag with me all the time. Often friends will ask for gum or to borrow a pen and they see me going in and getting it from the bag. Sometimes I leave the bag (with no gun in it) unattended and direct my friends to help themselves to gum or paper or whatever they might need out of there. So when I am carrying a gun in the bag, they would never suspect it.

I really like messenger bags, not just for CCW but for general use. Don't let the rednecks calling it a purse dissuade you from trying it.

Oh-No-bama Continued

This little gem:

"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban as soon as I take office. Within 90 days, we will go back after kitchen table dealers, and work to end the gun show and internet sales loopholes. In the first year, I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns."

--Barack Obama, VPC Fund Raiser, 2007

Of course, this quote was before the Heller decision from the Supreme Court, however I don't see how he is likely to interpret Heller to be counter to this professed policy.

1. Reinstate the AWB - Clinton AWB template likely. Go buy your ARs and AKs now. Get as many high-cap magazines for those and your handguns now.

2. Go after "kitchen table dealers", end "gun show and internet sales" loopholes. Well these are already regulated. There are certainly "kitchen table FFLs" but these are registered businesses requiring a store front and an investigation by the BATF. There are already requirements that internet sales involve a FFL. There are already requirements that guns bought at a gun show have to require a background check. This is Obama advertising his ignorance of the current law.

3. National no-carry law? What you say? Somebody set up us the bomb! Whoah, this will be a big thing. Let's hope he can't make good on this promise.

4. One gun per month purchase limit? Well now, I guess if there's a national no-carry law, and semi-auto weapons are illegal, it's going to be tough to find any reason to buy more than one gun a month for most people but in reality, is this going to apply to police forces? No? You mean, the police have rights we don't have? This is unconstitutional!

5. Bans on all semi-automatic guns? You mean, like the one on my hip right now? Or the one in the glove box of the car? Or the one that nearly every police officer is carrying? You have got to be kidding me!

This guy truly has his head in the sand. Let's hope Congress sets him straight.

Oh-No-bama

Well, it looks like Obama won, and the Dems picked up seats in both houses of Congress. I think we can look forward to a re-introduction to the so-called "Assault Weapons Ban", confirmation of some real left-wing Supreme Court and Appeals Court judges, and maybe an assault on concealed carry laws throughout the country.

Crud!

The "Assault Weapons Ban" would likely mirror that of the Clinton era: no magazines holding more than 10 rounds, no "evil black rifles" such as AR-15s and AK-47s. So if you want to get out and hedge against this, buy an AR-15 or AK-47, a bunch of high-cap mags for your current guns and the EBR, and if you think you might want to buy a gun that might be >10 rounds of capacity in the next decade, now is the time.

I think it's unlikely the measures would go much further than that.

As for the CCW-law assault, well there's not much to be done about that. Get your CHL now, and hope for the best.

I will accelerate my plans to buy a Ruger 10-22 and a couple of high-cap magazines for it. I might consider buying another double-stack 9mm. Just depends on if I can allocate the funds.

Speaking of funds, only imaginary math suggests that the economy is going to be better off with the government taking more of our money away from us. So you might consider buying now, while you still have a job. Any guns you buy now that will be grandfathered under a future ban will likely appreciate in price.

Air Leaks

Quickly:

I bought a used Crosman 1077 air rifle. It had a CO2 leak at the inlet. Turns out it's a part # 38-128 "End Seal" available from Crosman for about $6.50 including shipping. There is no other part I can find locally that will get the job done.

Seems air leaks in Crosman 1077s are commonly reported and people complain about them on forums and just assume the rifle is junk. Look, when the valve opens on the CO2 cartridge then CO2 turns from liquid to gas and gets very, very cold. It is no small wonder that the seals will freeze or crack. There are two places where these rifles tend to leak. The first is at the CO2 inlet as I have found with my rifle, and the other is in the valve. If you take out the three screws holding the rifle in the stock and remove the rifle from the stock, then it is very clear where it is leaking. Either it is leaking right at the tip of the CO2 cartridge, viewable in a little "peep" hole and easily heard when the rifle is out of the stock, or it is leaking up between the barrel and valve where you can see in the magazine well. If it's like mine, then it's a very easy fix, not even requiring disassembly of the receiver. If it is leaking in the valve, well the easiest thing is to order a new valve.

This disassembly guide will help.

A bunch of other CO2 guns use the same seal and will have the same symptom. Happy airgunning!

Minute Of Aluminum - or - Cans Beware

I have two daughters, a teen and a pre-teen. They are just now getting into going shooting with me. But there are a number of drawbacks to getting them out shooting, and these apply to many of us.

• Cost - Ammo in 9mm is pretty pricey, the range is about 20-25 miles away so there's two gallons of gas involved
• Time - It's tough to get everyone together to go out to the range, given that it is over an hour of round-trip driving, only works in daylight hours (it's outdoors), and it's altogether inconvenient
• Noise - hey, shooting a 9mm is kind of loud and scary for teenage girls.
  

So, I noticed, hanging on the gun rack, my dad had an old (and by old, I mean old, beat up, broken down, and barely working) Daisy 840 air rifle that my brother and I had when I was a kid. I took it home, made sure it worked, jammed a spare screw up under the rear sight where the ramp was missing, and then set up some cans. The girls had a blast out there shooting cans in the back yard. At about 35 feet, they were dead-eye accurate. My wife came out and even had some fun out there.

Later that weekend I did a little service on the beater old BB rifle and basically discovered that it's a basket case. It works, it's accurate, but it's a pain. The bolt is really stiff and hard to operate. You have to load it manually every time and this is anything but predictable or reliable. The girls don't really like pumping and loading it for every shot. So it's time for a semi-auto BB or pellet rifle and/or pistol.

The cool thing about air guns is that in many towns in Texas, you can shoot an air rifle in your own yard. A piece of plywood makes an effective backstop. You can get reactive targets from the recycle bin, and each can will take about 100 rounds before it has to be replaced. It is fun and helps you learn good sight technique, not to flinch or anticipate the recoil, etc. I think a BB pistol would be an excellent practice tool for those new to shooting pistols, to help with sight picture and trigger control. A pellet rifle is just plain fun to shoot. No ear protection required! And ammo is very cheap. Even counting the cost of CO2 cartridges in a higher-powered pellet rifle, it is cheaper to shoot than .22LR bought in 550-round bulk packs.

So after some rather overwhelming research, I discovered that air guns are a big topic. Some air rifles get extremely expensive, and there are people who are just as crazy about air rifles as some are about "real" firearms. Semi-auto style BB or pellet rifles are rarer than hen's teeth. But to boil it down very simply:

• Pellets are more accurate than BBs.
• Almost all BB or pellet rifles require you to manually load a BB or pellet into the breech with some type of action be it a bolt or some other action
• For rifles, the common types are spring-piston (Red Ryder and most high power pellet hunting rifles), pneumatic pump (like my Daisy 840 or most multi-pumps like you might have shot as a kid), and CO2. You have to cock or pump everything other than CO2. CO2 cartridges can get expensive over time.
  
• There is only one sporter-style (that is, traditional-looking) semi-auto pellet rifle on the market. It's the Crosman 1077
  
• To get a BB rifle that doesn't require manual loading of each round, then your only choice is Daisy. Maybe you like it in pink. They are accurate enough to hit soda cans at 10 yards.
  
• To be accurate at 20 yards or more, a pellet must be going about 600fps. To plink soda cans at 10 yards, about 300fps BBs will do the trick.
  
• Semi-auto style BB or pellet pistols using CO2 are pretty common. You can a Daisy that looks like a 1911 at Wal Mart for $30 or less.
  

So last weekend I found a lightly used Crosman 1077 complete with a ton of accessories and ammo on Craigslist and snapped it up. Now I am on the hunt for the right pistol, and I think the M&P BB pistol is the one I want since it is very fast (480fps) and has a feel very much like my Sigma including the sights and trigger. Be forewarned: you may quickly get over your head when you start shopping for an air gun. Some of these folks are really nuts.

UPDATE: I bought that M&P pistol. The first one had a broken mag catch out of the box and it had to be returned. The second one had a problem where most of the time, when you pulled the trigger it would not fire, but it would fire when you began to release the trigger. I took it back for a refund. Two strikes is all it took. On the other hand, I am digging my 1077 quite a bit.

A Little Lingo

This is a quick addendum to the "Nonconformist Guide...". Think of it as a little extra "how to not get made fun of by gun owners for no good reason" giudeline.

This is a "bullet":

This is a "casing" aka "brass":

A "bullet" is the part of the ammunition that is fired from the barrel of the gun. The "brass" is left empty and ends up on the ground.

In contrast, these are not "bullets":

These are "cartridges", often also called "rounds".

To avoid endless ridicule, never refer to a cartridge as a "bullet". There are even reports of newbies going into a gun shop to buy ammunition, asking for a box of "bullets", and the smart aleck behind the counter selling them exactly what they asked for, a box of "bullets", that is, unattached to a casing, primer, and powder, jacketed lead pieces. When the foolish buyer arrives at the range they find that these "bullets" are quite incapable of being fired from their gun in their unattached state.

To get onboard with the common vernacular, when you go to the gun shop or gun counter at Wal Mart, what you want to buy is "ammo". Otherwise properly called "ammunition". While we are buying ammunition, here's a quick run-down on some sizes and types.

If you took my advice and you have a 9mm semi-automatic, odds are you actually have a gun that is chambered for 9mm Luger, aka 9mm Parabellum, aka 9x19. These three terms all refer to the same ammunition. The term "chambered" means that is what the chamber of the gun is designed to hold. Sometimes the same gun may be available with different chamberings so it may not be enough to just know what model of gun you have.

There are some other types of 9mm which is why it gets confusing. Regular 9mm ammo is known by the three names above. Non-regular 9mm is known by a few other names:

9mm Short is more commonly known as .380ACP or just .380.
9mm Makarov is also commonly known as 9x18. This is ammo between the size of the .380ACP and a regular 9mm Luger.
9mm Largo is also known as 9x23 and is much less common.

These "other" 9mm rounds will not work in a regular 9x19 chambered gun.

Attempting to use the wrong size ammunition in your pistol may result in disaster! Be absolutely sure you know which one to get!

There are many other calibers as well. .38 Special is approximately the same size/weight bullet as 9mm, and .357 Magnum is also very similar in size and weight of bullet. But these are rimmed cartridges designed for use in revolvers. .357Sig is a semi-automatic round that is like a 9mm but with a larger casing allowing for more powder and therefore a more powerful loading. .40S&W is a slightly bigger cartridge than 9mm, and .380ACP is slightly smaller. There are dozens of other calibers, I am just hitting the highlights.

Some more terminology:

FMJ is "full metal jacket". This means the bullet has a layer or "jacket" of metal (usually copper) covering the lead on the bullet. FMJ ammo will be "ball" ammo, which means it is round nose and not hollow-point.

JHP is "jacketed hollow point". This is a hollow point bullet with a metal jacket around the bullet.

The "jacket" of copper serves as a barrier between the barrell and the lead, and reduces "lead fouling" when you shoot it from the gun. Instead you get "copper fouling". Lead fouling is worse to clean up. Regular lead cast bullets are common in some very cheap reloaded ammo and may void the warranty of your pistol if you shoot them.

+P, +P+ are "plus pressure" and "plus pressure plus". This basically means they are hotter loads than "standard pressure" ammunition. They will produce more muzzle velocity with the same bullet weight, and will produce noticeably more recoil. Also they are tougher on the gun since it has more impact happening in the gun. Some guns are rated to shoot +P or +P+ but recommended to not shoot them on a regular basis. Normally for practice you would use standard pressure, and maybe for self defense you might want +P. Most of us don't use +P+.

115gr, 124gr, 147gr these are common bullet weights, measured in "grains", for 9mm ammo. 115gr is standard. There are some lighter bullets for 9mm, but they are not very common. As physics would have it, the higher the bullet weight, the lower the velocity will be given the same powder load. There is a huge amount of debate about the merits of one or the other bullet weight and little agreement even amongst "experts". The most hotly debated is 147gr since it is known to not feed correctly in many pistols, and the risks may outweigh whatever dubious benefits might exist. I use 115gr and 124gr. Choose your own religion.

Primers are the little round thingies in the hole in the back of the cartridge, upon which the firing pin or striker hits. This is what ignites a center-fire cartridge.

Muzzle Velocity is how fast a bullet from a particular cartridge will come out of the barrel of a given gun. 9mm rounds from a 3-4" pistol are normally around 1000-1400 fps. The speed of sound is about 1150 fps. Anything that is over that speed is "supersonic" and below that is "subsonic". Usually 147gr 9mm rounds are subsonic. There is a sound pressure wave that goes along with a bullet as it goes through the air, and a supersonic round will be ahead of the sound pressure wave, while a subsonic round will be behind its sound pressure wave. At some point the supersonic bullet will slow down due to friction, to the point at which it drops below the speed of sound and its sound pressure wave will catch up with it and pass it by. This can cause turbulence or a disturbance to the bullet's path, which may throw it off of the straight line it is trying to travel, making a supersonic bullet less accurate to shoot after a certain distance. For handguns used for defensive purposes, this doesn't make a meaningful difference since the distance that this happens is far beyond the usual range for handgun fire.

A little more vocab to keep you from becoming a laughing stock:

This is not a "clip".
It is a "magazine".

Don't ever call that a "clip". I don't care what they say in the movies.

Nonconformist's Guide To Gun Ownership Part 4

In Part 1, we dealt with the equipment, basic aspects of acquiring a gun and the associated hardware. In Part 2, we dealt with personal relationships with respect to the new gun owner. Part 3 was mostly about interacting with the gun culture. In Part 4, we are going to deal with the practical aspects of owning and using a gun.

Inventory
First let's take a look at your equipment inventory. The nonconformist gun owner has probably acquired the following things:

• a handgun
• some quantity of ammunition
• a pistol safe
• a cleaning kit
  
• shooting supplies such as hearing and eye protection, targets and maybe a range bag
• perhaps a holster

If you don't have these things yet, then go get them, by all means. The well-equipped nonconformist gun owner should eventually have these things:

• one or more handguns of the same caliber (preferably 9mm)
• a bare minimum of two, and preferably four magazines for each handgun
  
• one full box of 50 rounds of quality self-defense ammunition that has been tested in every pistol
• 100+ rounds of quality FMJ range/practice ammunition (preferably 200+ rounds), best if this is the same brand/weight/grain as your SD ammo
• a range bag (that is, a bag that you can take to the range)
  
• one set of ear and eye protection for each person shooting on any practice outing
• a basic cleaning kit
• hard-side lockable pistol cases, and keyed-alike locks, for each pistol you own

Let's talk about how to get here, and why, in a little while.

Hit What You Are Shooting At
The fundamental reasons to have a defensive handgun are:

1. To protect your home and family in the event of a burglary or robbery
2. To protect your personal life and property while not in your home
3. To protect the life and property of a third person while not in your home

As you would learn in a CHL class, there are laws governing when it is warranted to use "deadly force" and I will not get into that here. I am talking mostly about philosophy. The plain fact is, you probably will never have to use a handgun for any of these fundamental reasons, but if you do, you will absolutely need to be prepared to use it effectively for the purpose.

The key is to be able to hit what you are shooting at, and not hit what you are not shooting at. Most of your equipment choices and practice habits need to be focused on the applicability towards these goals at a very minimum.

The four rules of safe gun handling are as follows:

1. All guns are always loaded
2. Do not point the gun at anything you do not wish to destroy
3. Keep your finger off of the trigger until you have sighted in your target
4. Be sure of your target and what lies behind it

With the exception of #1, these all involve hitting what you are shooting at, and not hitting that which you do not want to destroy.

In any defensive shooting scenario, there is always the question of what is the target, how do I hit the target, what is not the target, and how do I avoid hitting that which is not the target.

Take for example a robbery in your home while you are in the house. Let's say you park both cars in the garage, you forgot to turn on any lights, and you and your family are sleeping when someone breaks in, unaware that you are inside the house. You wake up and grab your gun and run into the kitchen and there you find the bad guy, armed and dangerous, in your house. This guy is not going to stand still like a firing range silouhette. He's going to try and shoot you, while trying to avoid getting shot. Your adrenaline is going to be through the roof. Just because you can hit center of mass 10 shots in a row at the firing range while under no stress does not mean you can hit and stop a moving attacker in the dark with your adrenaline out the window. And speaking of out the window, there is no backstop magically moving around behind your home intruder, so if you miss, even by a little bit, then you have a bullet flying into who knows where. What is that fourth rule?

You know a 9mm hollowpoint bullet fired from a regular pistol can go through six interior sheetrock walls. Are you going to accidentally shoot someone you cannot even see in your own home? How do you know?

Also, if the intruder is shooting back at you, how do you find cover? Where is the cover? Is there any cover you can get behind inside your house? Where do your children and family go for cover if they hear gunshots in the house? Have you thought about any of this? New tools means new responsibility for effective use of tools. They don't typically teach any of this in a CHL class. They teach you what is legal, not what is practical.

The basics: Bare Minimum Practice
For the brand new gun owner, the priority is to learn to operate the pistol, even under ideal conditions. For your first outing, take 200 rounds of full-pressure ammunition (not Monarch or reloads), get instruction, learn to use the sights with both eyes open and focusing on the front sight, firing with two hands and the Weaver stance (look it up), and practice until you can put an entire magazine's worth of rounds into a 6" target at 7 yards. You will need to learn trigger control, you will need to learn why you are pulling down and to the left and how to remedy that, and you will need to learn to relax and time your shot correctly, as well as follow-through. You need to make these things habits. Doing it the right way from the first day will develop the best habits.

After that, for the next few months, you are still learning. The next couple of outings need to be 100 rounds, and over the next few months work on the same fundamentals, but add to it shooting one handed with either hand, point shooting (look it up), and shooting at longer distances (15 yards). You should eventually be able to hit the target with your non-dominant hand point shooting at 7 yards, put a whole mag into a 6" target with your dominant hand both point shooting and with sights, one handed, and also put a whole mag into the center of mass at 15 yards with your strong hand and two-hands using sights. Once you get to this point, you are ready to move on.

Next up is shooting on the move and from cover. Again I suggest range outings include 100 rounds for one practice session, and shoot from draw, shoot while moving, and shoot from behind cover. This is harder than you might think. Good luck finding an appropriate range. You may find reactive targets to be helpful in this type of practice (such as balloons stapled to the target area, put up red and yellow balloons, and you are to hit the red and miss the yellow, etc.).

Once you become proficient like this (it took me over 6 months), while going out once a month, I suggest running 50 rounds per month at range practice, with a once-a-month ongoing practice regimine, with a mixture of the above techniques to stay sharp.

Qualifying Ammunition ... and guns
If you read the manual for your pistol, you will notice that they say something about not all ammunition is the same and you should verify your ammunition works correctly before using it. Likewise you should verify your gun works correctly before trusting it as a solid defense tool.

I am now talking only about 9mm ammunition.

Stick to medium bullet weight, such as 115gr or 124gr. There is much debate about 147gr, and it is unreliable in some pistols, so just stay out of that hornet's nest. Stick to standard pressure or +P loads. +P+ or other high power loads are probably more than you need in a 3-4" barrell handgun and will definitely wear the gun faster. You should practice with ammo that closely resembles your self defense ammo. I recommend major premium brands like Winchester, Remington, Federal, Speer and Cor-Bon. The Winchester "white box" ammunition is available at Wal Mart for about $20 for 100 rounds for practice ammo, and the "white box" 115gr JHP defense ammo is only about 50% more expensive and feeds and shoots nearly the same as the practice rounds. This is a major benefit because the last thing you want is the gun to behave differently in a self defense scenario than it does in practice due to different ammo choices.

To qualify the gun as reliable, you should shoot about 200 failure-free consecutive rounds through it. Also 200 rounds is a good breakin period for a new pistol.

To qualify the ammo as reliable, a minimum is 50 consecutive failure-free rounds before relying on the ammo for carry. More is obviously better. You can see how choosing boutique, expensive ammo can make qualification expensive, which means you may not qualify it correctly due to cost. This would be a big mistake because an ammo-related failure may not show up in just 20 rounds of qualification, but you don't want to learn about an ammo-related problem on that day when you need the gun to go "bang" and it goes "click".

The difference between self-defense and practice ammo is mostly price. Self-defense ammo is hollow-point, which means it will expand or "mushroom" when it meets resistance. A lot of ballistic testing is done on this ammo to verify it works correctly. Unlike the hollywood image of hollowpoints as cop-killers or exploding rounds or some kind of ultra lethal round, hollowpoints are probably less lethal and safer than regular "ball" or FMJ ammo. The reason is because when hollowpoints expand, they slow down and are intended to not penetrate all the way through the target (target = bad guy). This minimizes the chances of a bystander being hit by a bullet that went straight through. Also since there is only an entry wound, there is less bleeding with a hollowpoint than a FMJ round.

The idea is to stop the attack. The idea is not to eventually kill the attacker. A JHP round is more likely to stop the attack, since all of the energy of the bullet is put into the attacker, while a FMJ round is more likely to pass through, meaning some of the energy is not put into the attacker. So the attacker may continue the attack, and then die of bleeding later on with a FMJ, but the attacker may stop the attack and not bleed to death if hit with a JHP.

So your defense ammo should be JHP, and ideally, JHP that reacts similarly in your pistol to the FMJ that you use for practice.

The Winchester "white box" 115gr ammo you can buy at Wal Mart is great for practice, and the JHP variety is economical enough to get plenty of qual and practice in, and effective for use as a defense round.

Be Prepared
There are a bunch of gun sayings that apply here. Like, the first rule of gun fighting is "bring a gun". Or, "the .22 in your pocket is better than the .45 in your safe". I'll make a new one. There is no point in owning a gun if it is not available when you need to use it.

Making the gun available for use involves planning. The gun has to be immediately at hand when you need it. It needs to be loaded. It needs to have a round in the chamber.

The best and simplest way to solve this most of the time is to have the gun on your person. However, when you are in the shower or sleeping, I bet even the most die hard CHL advocate won't carry a gun.

So where do you put your gun when you are sleeping? A bed-side gun safe is the way to go. A fast-access electronic safe is a great solution, and a Gun-Vault type with finger grooves for the combination is a great idea. If you do not have guests or kids (then get a life!), then leaving the gun in an unlocked state may be acceptable. Masaad Ayoob (you need to know who this is) describes sleeping with the gun on the floor next to the bed, with a magazine tossed on top of it. You see the gun on the night stand is likely to wind up in the hands of the attacker, since they are awake and alert when they enter your room, and you are not.

There is also a very good argument for keeping your gun in the holster, and the holster on the belt, and still affixed to your pants that you wore the day before you went to bed. Then you leave these pants next to the bed. You can get to the gun quickly, but also if you need to get up and get out of the house, when you put on your pants, you are already armed.

There are an infinite number of other solutions, but work it out for yourself.

Now be prepared in the car. Getting to a gun while driving your car can be tricky. I can't even get my cell phone out of my pocket while driving. If you are stopped at a light and a carjacker gets in the passenger seat, are you going to be able to get to your gun carried small-of-the-back? Do you want it in a holster attached to the inside of the glove box? Don't you think the BG will get to it first if you have to reach across? This is something to consider.

Basically the key is, the closer to your body and your right hand, the better.

Why All Of That Ammo
You might have noticed I recommend having a lot of ammo on hand. There are a couple of reasons.

First off, you may get a chance to run out and get in some practice range time, and maybe it's during a time when your gun store is closed. I went by Wal Mart recently on the way to the range to find they were out of my ammo. You never know. So having some on hand makes this more convenient.

Secondly, the price of ammo has been increasing steadily. It lasts a long time. Buying now hedges against higher prices later.

Thirdly, in the event you suddenly find you would like to have a lot of ammo on hand, like a natural disaster, extended power outage, some other event that might cause looting or whatever, that's a real bad time to have to run to the store and pick some up. In fact, for this reason alone, it makes a lot of sense to stockpile ammo. There are slim odds of something like this happening, but it is cheap insurance. Maybe once a month, while in Wal Mart picking up groceries, you pick up a box of ammo. One month, get a 100-round value pack of practice ammo. The next month, get 50 rounds of defense ammo. Do this every month for a year and even including range trips and that kind of thing, you will end up with 1000 rounds of ammo stored up in case of an emergency.

Quite simply, an emergency that would call for the use of a lot of ammo (like, you cannot go buy any more for a long time), also is an emergency making acquisition of ammo nearly impossible.

The Other Gear
The other gear like hearing protection, range bag, etc. are all convenience items. The extra magazines for your pistols are #1 for backup, in case one breaks (it's known to happen), #2 for extra capacity to carry, and #3 convenience. It's much easier when you go to the range to take out your defense-loaded magazine and set it aside, then just use the spare for the practice, reload with the defense mag when you leave. Also if you are traveling or need to transport more than one gun's worth of ammo, you can carry it in the spare magazines.

What Next
Buying guns can get addictive. It can turn into a hobby. Barring that, what is the use in having a bunch of guns? Is there any use? If so, what is it and what kinds of guns make sense?

Rimfire. You might have noticed that you can buy 500 rounds of .22LR ammunition for the price of 100 rounds of 9mm. Sure seems like a great way to get in target practice. So having a .22LR pistol that has a similar manual of arms, sights, etc. to your defense pistol could make target practice to work on sight skills, shooting on the move and that kind of thing much more economical. .22LR pistols are kind of expensive but .22LR rifles are very inexpensive. Once you get a stock pile of ammunition (and one box of 550 rounds is a stock pile), then why not get another gun to shoot it with. The same logic for why the nonconformist might want to learn to use a pistol applies to a rifle, and a .22LR rifle is an excellent way to learn on the cheap.

Small Game. I will never be into hunting. I sure hope I don't ever have to kill an animal and figure out how to clean it and prepare the meat for consumption on my own. But if the time were to come that I do need to do just that, then having the skills and tools to do it would be handy. A .22LR rifle is perfect for small game like rabbits and squirrels. Look I don't want to eat a squirrell, but I am not starving or watching my family starve. Things might look different under different circumstances.

Non-animal Predators. There is an acronym used by the apocalyptic tinfoil hat gun types, "SHTF". You know what it stands for. In this case, there may be some chance of bad guys lurking in the neighborhood. Sure you can fend them off with your couple of 9mm handguns but nothing beats a .223 rifle. A .223 can also be used to hunt larger game, or to fend off animal predators like coyotes if you happen to find yourself in the woods and being attacked by coyotes. Yeah I know, slim odds. AR15 is the platform of choice. That's almost like a religion in itself. I like the Kel-Tec SU-16 or a Ruger Mini-14 as an alternative.

Handguns For Specific Purposes. Your second gun will probably be a dedicated carry gun, one smaller and lower capacity vs. your first gun. A single-stack compact or subcompact 9mm is a perfect choice. Your third gun may well be a "deep concealment" or "high convenience" carry gun like a very small .380 such as a Kel-Tec P3AT or Ruger LCP... maybe even a P32. A gun you can just stick in your pocket and go no matter what you are wearing including swim trunks and nothing else. Maybe your spouse wants her own carry gun and thinks a .38 snubnose with pink grips is the one to get. Go for it. Maybe you have kids that are old enough and responsible enough to want to be able to use a gun to defend themselves in the home if need be, but are not strong enough to clear a jam in a semi-auto. So you want a revolver.

There are many legitimate reasons for non-sportsman suburban gun owners to own multiple guns.

Of course, when I bought my second gun my wife said, incredulously, "just how many guns do you want anyway?!?!". I said, "at least five". She almost hit the roof. So what seems normal to me now still seems outrageous to my wife, who is about six months behind me on the gun ownership curve. My five: double stack 9mm (I have), carry 9mm (I have), gun for the wife to carry, .22LR rifle and .223 rifle. I could easily add to that a dedicated pocket gun, a .22LR pistol, and a .38 revolver. See how five turns to eight, just like that?

I guarantee you, any of your family and friends who swallowed the idea of you owning a gun and didn't protest too much will definitely think you are a gun nut if you buy eight guns in just a couple of years.

Nonconformist's Guide To Gun Ownership Part 3

Part 1 was mostly equipment. Part 2 was mostly friends and family. Part 3 is going to be my take on the whole "gun culture" element.

Now's when things start to get a little nasty :) Well, not really. But here's the basic situation (and this is an honest, clear appraisal, I assure you):

• There is definitely a "gun culture" that have a unique set of values, communication style, they dress differently, shop in different stores, and have different hobbies and interests than the rest of us
• Those who are inside this "gun culture" most likely were born into it and don't realize that it is any different than the rest of us
• The "gun culture" insiders may get quite defensive if you suggest there is a gun culture
• There is legitimate "elitism" in this gun culture. There is even some "hazing" of sorts for newcomers. Yes, it exists. If you point it out, you will likely get attacked.
• You don't have to fit in or join this gun culture, but you can learn a lot from the gun culture insiders without having to join in
• Internet forums are full of the gun culture insiders

Your first encounter with the elitist gun culture will probably happen when you go to the gun counter to seek buying your first gun. Certainly the sales guy at the counter doesn't intend to put you off, but it will be very normal for you to feel put off. Once you feel put off, it may be very hard to separate the factual information from the cultural opinion. So if you don't want to swallow it hook, line and sinker, then you need to know how to navigate what is, quite frankly, kind of a minefield.

The Myth = The Gun Culture Does Not Exist
If you bring up the idea of gun culture elitism, or the clearly obvious cliquishness of the gun folks, within the company of these gun owners, then you are likely to not make any friends and you may be attacked. The form of the attack is going to be "there is no elitism, there is no gun culture, you are the one who is wrong".

Make no mistake, it does exist. I am not trying to paint a broad brush or say that all individuals who are friendly to the "insider" idealism of the gun culture are all fully in agreement or tend to be hostile towards outsiders. In fact many are reasonable and friendly and very willing to help. But there still is kind of a herd mentality, and I'd say those who are willing to relate to you on your level are the nonconformists of their group.

You are standing at a crossroads of culture. Your whole peer group, family and friends are likely in some other kind of subcultural group, and you need to gain some insight from another one, but doing so without either being sucked into the new group or being attacked by it may be tricky.

Here are some of the things I have experienced from this gun culture.

• Strong adherence to some particular choice of guns, and open attacks on those who choose differently. Some folks will attack you if you decide to carry 9mm instead of a .45. There is kind of a hysteria about 1911 type pistols from this group that may not make sense to you (I, for one, can't stand them). Some may feel free to pick on you for your choice of gun (God help you if you have a Smith and Wesson Sigma, as I do).
• Strong sense that guns, gun rights, or gun-related choices are the top priority. The gun culture, or specifically concealed carry, self-defense subculture insiders, for example, will openly boycott businesses that post a 30.06 (compliant no-guns sign), and will advocate quitting a job if your employer does not allow you to carry a gun while at work. They may strongly advocate never visiting a country or state that restricts gun rights, even for vacation. They may think you are nuts for not completely changing your wardrobe in order to suit carrying your gun, plus all kinds of other extra gear like spare magazines, pepper spray, knives, etc.
• Some will suggest that if you are Generation X member, you are a lazy good-for-nothing leech on society. If you don't join the NRA, you are a traitor to the cause. If you support the ACLU, you are an ultra-traitor. etc. You should vote, and act mostly based on gun laws and ignore most other issues

Like I said, this is not all of them, but it is enough of them that it sends a clear message to newcomers of "we don't want you here". This is ok, because I bet you don't want to join their group either. But unfortunately if you are going to go to a gun store and buy something someday, you are going to have to interact with these people.

Gun Store Guy
When I went to check out a gun at a store for the first time, it was the first time I had ever handled a firearm in my entire life. I didn't know what the gun counter etiquette was. I didn't know why they removed the magazine and opened the action. I didn't know whether I should ask them to remove the trigger lock. It was a rather intimidating situation that didn't have to be that way.

I think sometimes the gun store guy is sizing you up. I am sure a part of it is that they want to know if you are a looky-loo or if you are really there to buy. That's fair enough.

For example, I am a guitarist. I'm no weekend hobbyist, but a part-time, former full-time pro. One time I went into a guitar store with a coworker who also plays the guitar, but he's a weekend hobbyist. When I went up to the counter, the guy at the counter was chatty, suggested I might want to check out this not-for-sale vintage guitar they had hanging up back there, and automatically sold me my strings I was buying for half of the marked price. Hey, I'm an insider. They know that. They know me! My coworker was baffled. He asked me why they let me play that "do not touch" guitar?!?! And why did they sell me strings for half price??!! He said he usually cannot get them to give him any help, they charge him full price for everything, and won't let him touch anything. They can tell, he's not in the club. I don't really know how they can tell but they can. The gun store is no different!

So the first time I was there, I was apprehensive and didn't know what I was doing, and I didn't buy. I was very put off. Then I went back to my good gun owning friends (all two of them) and asked what I did to project this "I'm not worthy" message and they advised me on what I should expect. Next time I went I got a whole different kind of treatment.

So here you go, gun store etiquette 101:

• Be educated. Know first what you are looking for, and ask for that specifically. When they ask you questions like "are you going to be using this for self defense or target practice", know the answer. If you have decided you want a striker-fired, compact double-stack 9mm, then when they try and tell you that "you really want a steel frame gun where you can see the hammer" or "new shooters should start with a revolver because of the simplicity" then you should just tell them you are not interested. Know what you are looking for. Have a list of the exact models you are looking at, and do some pre-planning before you get to the gun shop. You have a right to your own informed opinion.
• Academy has a store policy, they do not remove the trigger locks. IMHO, do not shop there for this reason alone.
• You are expected to clear (that is, unload, check to be sure it is unloaded) any gun handed to you. This is normal protocol for passing a gun between persons. It is also normal protocol for anyone passing a gun off to clear it, and hand it over with the magazine out and the slide locked open (if possible). Most gun counter clerks will do this as a routine, and you should learn this habit as well. It's a courtesy mostly in a gun store since they all know these guns have never been loaded but it is a very good 100% habit and a requirement for safe gun handling. The counter clerk will probably not hand you the gun, but will probably open it, clear it, and set it down on the counter. This is routine protocol.
• When you are handling the gun, do not point it in the direction of the clerk or the store. Keep it pointed behind the counter away from people. You will get in the habit of doing this as well but for the first couple of times, you will have to think about it.
• You need to feel how the gun fits your hand and feels on balance. To do this, you need to insert the magazine, release the slide with the slide release and "ride the slide", which means hold it and slow down the release (letting it snap down on the force of the recoil spring freely onto an empty chamber supposedly can damage some pistols), and then handle the gun with your finger off of the trigger to check for the fit
• You can evaluate the sights, aim at something on the wall behind the counter, not the clerk!
• You should check the trigger. Ask the clerk first!!! This is called "dry firing", so you should say, "is it ok for me to dry-fire it?". They will either say, "sure, go ahead", or "sure, but let me put a snap-cap in it" (a snap-cap is a fake cartridge that you put in to protect whatever needs protecting for guns that are not safe to dry-fire), or "no" in which case put the gun down and leave the store without spending a penny. If there's a trigger lock, ask them to remove it first, then ask to dry fire. If they won't remove the trigger lock, put the gun down and leave. To dry fire the gun, you will probably have to rack the slide to get it cocked so you can fire it unless it is a SA/DA. Know how to do this! If you are right-handed, you hold the gun with your right hand like you are preparing to fire with your finger off of the trigger and not inside the trigger guard, and with your left hand, pull back on the slide at the serrations while pushing forward with your right hand to pull back the slide, then release (this is called "sling shot").
• Check all other controls, including the slide release, magazine release, safeties (if you decided to get a gun with a safety), make sure you can operate them easily with the gun in position, and also try it left and right handed to make sure you could fire the gun with either hand if you have to.
• If you are at all serious about purchasing the gun, I think it is perfectly reasonable to ask the clerk to demonstrate how to field strip the pistol. It takes me less than one minute to do this with either of mine. They should do it right there on the bench. Field stripping means removing the slide from the frame, removing the recoil spring, guide rod and barrel from the slide, and then putting it all back together again. You will have to do this each time you celan it, so it's good to know how it's done and see how difficult it can be.

If the gun counter clerk offers any unsolicited advice such as "That gun is a piece of junk, it's a rip off of a , you should buy the real thing" or "I would never buy any Smith and Wesson after they made that deal with that commie pervert Clinton" [statements I have heard in gun stores with my own ears], then you should choose to either just ignore them, or shop elsewhere. If they have a gun in the store, then they should be willing to sell it without the commentary. They may offer other advice like "a snubby is really the best carry gun" or "for home defense, you should get a 12 gauge shotgun" and that all might be well and good, their opinion, but you don't need that advice so just ignore it politely. "Thanks, but I am really interested in only this gun".

Realize that once you walk in, they probably can tell you are not a part of the clique. They are not going to treat you like a part of the clique. It gets better with time. Nowadays when I go into the stores where I shop for guns and accessories, I get a warm greeting and they know me. I still don't fit into the clique, but I don't get the cold shoulder. Funny how buying something from them might get you into the club faster :)

The Online Gun Community
One advantage of an online community is it allows a level of anonymity. As you probably are well aware, there is a wealth of information to be had from online forums, user groups and that kind of thing. During your research for what gun to buy, how to carry, etc., certainly you have happened upon some forums or user groups such as defensivecarry.com, thefiringline.com, thehighroad.us, or texaschlforum.com. When the time comes to find a CHL class, a holster, a used pistol, user reports of the reliability of a particular pistol, or those kinds of things, then the advice of a large pool of users can be a huge benefit.

But with the baby comes the bath water.

The main thing to look out for is that the opinions and advice from many of these forum members comes from the viewopoint of a gun-culture insider. Much of this input is very biased, although certainly accuate and useful within the context. You will need to probably reject some of the information.

For example, one hot-button is the infamous "caliber war". Usually it's 9mm vs. .45ACP. You have the zealots on one side who say that 9mms are toys, and .45ACP is the only way to go. On the other side you have the 9mm advocates who believe higher capacity is better. Then this ends up turning into a capacity war. The 5-shot-revolver crowd chimes in, says if you can't hit what you are aiming for in less than 5 shots, you shouln't be carrying. Or that if you think you need 17 rounds, you are a nutcase. Then you get into an autos vs. revolvers war. And on and on! It never ends. Hey it's an internet forum. The primary purpose is arguing.

Well at some point if you find yourself in the cross fire of such a war (pardon the pun), it may be your choices being attacked. As a newbie, you might not really be all that confident in why you made these choices. Maybe you just took my advice :) So maybe it's easy for you to feel personally attacked on these forums.

Also, one common cultural element to the gun forums is the "first, bring a gun" attitude. On the extreme end, this turns into a "dress around your gun" debate, or maybe "carrying a gun is not comfortable, but it's comforting", etc. If you ever reveal that you are interested in dressing fashionably, then prepare for the onslaught of people suggesting that if your personal safety is not more valuable than your fashion choices, then your priorities are upside down. Blah blah blah. This is par for the course.

Likewise sometimes a gun review might say something like, "the CZ P-100 is a piece of junk because it has the worst trigger in the history if pistols". Well, "worst" is clearly qualitative. So what makes it bad? It's got a long stroke, and a heavy pull. Not as long and heavy as a typical DAO revolver like a hammerless Smith ultralight. But no matter. They are comparing it to a 1911 or other very light-trigger pistol, so this opinion is very biased. So you have to get used to sorting through the opinions and find the real information.

My personal example is my first gun. It is a Smith and Wesson SW9VE, aka "Sigma". The first generation of Smith and Wesson Sigma pistols had a number of problems. #1, Smith and Wesson had a political problem. They agreed with the Clinton administration on some kind of gun control thing that is old news and irrelevant now but this put them on the black list for a lot of old and in the way gun people. #2, at the time the main striker-fired, polymer-frame pistol out there was a Glock, and this Smith and Wesson had quite a striking resemblance to a Glock 19. In fact, Glock sued S&W over some kind of patent infringement, resulting in some change to the S&W. So in many people's mind, this gun is a "fake Glock". S&W settled that suit with Glock. #3, the first generation pistols were plagued with reliability problems. And #4, the trigger... introduced at a time when DAO striker-fired pistols were uncommon, the Sigma was compared with Glocks and noted to have a much heavier trigger that many fans of semi-automatic pistols did not like.

So the conventional wisdom was, Sigma = bad. Every gun forum I read had lengthy Sigma bashing threads dating back for a decade. There would be a small contingent of Sigma fans extoling the virtues of the current models but no matter, they were swatted down by the rest of the community. I did my own research, tried it in my hand, made a choice and I bought one. Still I get bashed on these online communities for owning a Sigma.

Well six months later I bought a Kahr. Kahr has a reputation as a "premium" pistol. They have a high reputation for reliability, quality of materials, and design. I had shot two or three of them, really liked them, and decided to buy one for myself.

Well, with over 600 rounds through it, the Sigma has been dead-nuts reliable, I like to shoot it, it is comfortable and very accurate. It does everything exactly right and was a tremendous value. The Kahr, on the other hand, has had reliability niggles from day #1, with half the round count is still picky about handling, has little issues, and is less comfortable and harder to shoot. By the way the Kahr, purported to have an "excellent" trigger, has just about the same trigger weight as my "horrible" Sigma. So see, these reviews and internet opinions are not really objective in the least.

Your New Gun Culture Friends
As you make new friends who are gun friendly, many of them are likely gun culture insiders. In Texas, they probably hunt. They probably have more rifles than they do hand guns. They will invite you to go shoot with them, maybe even invite you to go hunting.

Face to face interactions are far different from the internet. You may bring your Hi-Point or Kel-Tec or *gasp* Sigma to the range and your gun friends may rib you about your junk gun for a minute but once they shoot it, they'll quit hassling you. Likewise when you are invited to go shoot with these gun insider friends, they will have lots to offer in terms of hands-on advice that you can benefit from. So go out shooting with them, learn what you can, and be nice. One of these days you may need help getting a stuck round out of a jammed gun or maybe you decide you want to buy a rifle and you would like to get some advice, so having these more experienced friends on good terms is a very good thing.

I have been to two gun shows and found that I won't go back. Gun shows are like a Gun Culture Convention. The prices are not worth it, they are usually the same or higher than the discount type local stores. They are crowded, and there are a bunch of People Not Like You there. It's a fun spectator sport but not my favorite use of my time.

Nonconformist's Guide To Gun Ownership Part 2

I confess: Part 1 was really too ambitious. It is an overview, completely lacking in enough detail to do much good, but I will get to more detail later on. Part 1 mostly dealt with equipment. Part 2 is going to deal with relationships, in similarly broad terms.

New Friends & Old Flames
As an adult, you have most likely already formed your peer group. You have friends and family who have come to know you as who you are. Your political opinions are solid. Your religious ideals are well-known and well-thought-out. Your friends and family know you the way you were before you considered owning a gun. Now it is you who is making a change. If you don't want to trade in all of your friends and family, then you need to pay attention to this.

Let me make one thing absolutely clear. When you make a big change about your attitudes or opinions about something, the natural response by many of your friends and family is going to be "he has lost his mind, he's going nuts!" You may have spent a long time making a reasoned and normal, gradual change, but it's sudden and shocking for your friends and family. So tread lightly!

First you need to consider your own family that lives in the house with you, where the guns are going to be. Remember, especially if you are like me and you are the head of your household, your previous experience and ambivalent attitude about guns may have been ingrained in your family and you have to un-ingrain it slowly. They didn't wake up one day, the same day as you did, and discover they needed to cross over into gun ownership.

So first let's deal with your spouse. If you are married, then getting a gun needs to be a team decision. Maybe you have already talked about owning guns for years and you know exactly how your spouse feels about it. I have found, after being married for 16 years and raising two daughters that women are enigmatic, and it is sometimes very difficult for men to really know what their opinion or feelings are about anything. So I don't recommend just popping in one day after work and saying "hey honey, I am going to go buy a gun tomorrow. You wanna come?"

I don't know how to advise you to do it, because all people are different and hopefully you know best how to communicate with your spouse. So I'll just tell you what happened with me, and you can decide how that may affect your plan for dealing with this.

I began thinking about owning a gun in the spring of 2007. In September 2007, I heard a news story on the radio about House Bill 823 which clarified the "traveling" clause of the Texas Penal Code regarding carrying guns in your car. Bear in mind, I had already been researching and considering gun ownership for six months prior to this time. My wife and I frequently talk about politics, so one night during dinner, I said to my wife, "hey did you hear about this new law that allows people to carry a gun in their car without a bunch of restrictions?" She hadn't heard, but it was a conversation starter. I told her what I had heard on the radio about the bill (I had also read the press release, and read the bill, but I didn't let on that I had done this lest my wife think I suddenly became a gun nut). So after talking about this for a minute or two, my wife said, "maybe we should get one".

Aha. Now, I could have said, "sure! Academy's open until 9:00, let's go after dinner!", but she would have freaked out. She said "maybe" and you guys should all know by now that often when a woman says "maybe", it means "no". So my response was more like, "ok, we can look into it". She asked if I knew how much a gun costs, etc. I played dumb, said something like "oh, I don't know, maybe $200 or more?", which is true of course.

OK, fast forward a week. We are home having dinner again and my wife said she went to the gun counter at Academy while she was in there shopping for something else, and she said some guns were just over $250 and most were more like $400 or more, and that she thought the guys behind the counter were creepy and she was really uncomfortable and left. Let it be known to all right now, this is normally the way normal non-gun-owner type people feel when they go to the gun counter at any store!!! So my fiercely-independent wife went to investigate the option of buying a gun, and was turned off by the people there, and suddenly we dropped the topic altogether.

Remember, many women are mostly about relationships, while men are mostly about doing things. So a guy has a task to do, buy a gun. He doesn't really care how he thinks other people treat him or feel about him while doing it. But getting this creepy feeling from the gun counter guys stifles many women's desire to buy a gun.

Now during the next six months, I would occasionally passively or subtly mention gun ownership or gun rights to my wife and just try and take the temperature on her attitude, making sure she hadn't turned anti-gun all of the sudden. She didn't. So when spring of 2008 came along, Smith and Wesson was offering a good rebate deal on the gun I wanted to buy, I had the money, so one day after work, I just dropped by Academy and bought a gun. The kids were staying with the grandparents that Friday night, so I knew whatever response my wife had didn't have to be amplified by reflecting it off of our two kids. I bought a pistol and a box of ammo. As I walked in my wife noticed I was carrying a blue plastic case with "Smith and Wesson" written on the side, and she said "is that what I think it is?", and I said, "yep". Then she freaked.

OK, so you see, my wife already was warm to the idea of gun ownership. She even shopped for one (once) on her own. She was definitely open to it, and we had been sort of checking the water mark for six months, and still she freaked when I brought home a gun.

She freaked, bounced between the rails of "what the HECK!" and "this is kind of cool". I opened the case and she jumped about ten feet back. You see, for those not used to being around guns, they are just plain scared of them. This is typical. I told her it was not loaded and then took it out, removed the magazine, pulled back the slide and locked it so I could show here how to check to see if it is loaded, and when she saw that I knew how to open the action, drop the magazine, etc., she was very shocked. It was kind of like all of the sudden, she saw some side of me she had never imagined. And I was a complete newbie! Then I put the magazine back in, released the slide with a loud "snap!" and gave it to her, she wouldn't touch it at first. Well this went around for a little while until I showed her how to handle it, four rules, etc. Once she settled in to the idea that I knew something about guns, I was comfortable with it, and I knew how to be safe with a gun, then she settled strongly on "this is very cool" and she told me flat out that it was a "turn on" for me to have just brought home a gun, and for her to discover I knew how to use it, even though I, myself, was a complete newbie.

OK, so here's the story. My wife is very conservative/libertarian just like me. She's very indepdent and doesn't even like having to depend on me for anything. But she was very much into the idea that I had taken responsibility for our protection.

Well we talked all about how I came to this choice and how I chose this gun and where did I buy it and all of this, like a big whirlwind that night, then went out to the range with a friend in the morning for the hands on instruction that I talked about in Part 1. We bought more ammo on the way and between the two of us we shot about 300 rounds and my wife shot very well and was totally on board.

Over the next few months I had to get her to warm up to the idea of me carrying a gun, getting my CHL, etc. This went the same way. At first she thought I was a nut. Then she just rolled her eyes when I would talk about it. She tolerated me going to get my CHL. When I got it, she thought I was a nut when I carried. Then when we took a long road trip, I put one gun in a holster in her car (we were taking two cars, long story), and carried the other with me. She thought I was nuts, and then one night in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere we stopped at a rest stop and she came up to the car I was in and demanded that I accompany her to the restroom, and that I made sure I was "packing". You see, once armed self defense becomes a viable option, it is very attractive to most people. But the initial shock to the system of dealing with making it a viable option is much more difficult to swallow.

After a year since the first mention of owning a gun in my house, and after owning guns for six months or so, finally my kids warmed to the idea, and only in the past month have they gone to the range.

OK so that's a lot longer of a story than I planned but that's the story. Now, the main thing to take away from that is that even if you are sure that your spouse thinks and that she is in agreement, she may still be shocked when the rubber meets the road.

Who's Next?
For me, I advise not to tell anyone about your new gun ownership experience unless they need to know, or unless they will find out eventually anyway. You want to be the one in control of how they find out. The more people who know, that's the more people who can go blab about it without your control. Remember the reaction of many of your peers is going to be shock, maybe outright disagreement, or they will think you are a nut. Not all of them, but many. So to avoid conflict, I suggest keeping it on the down-low for the time being.

The Rest of Your Family
You likely have other family that is going to find out about this one way or the other. If you are carrying, then someone is going to hug you and you are going to get made. You don't want this to happen when Aunt Sue hugs you at the family Christmas party and then exclaims "is that a GUN??". Instead if Aunt Sue is going to figure it out eventually, you want it to be on your terms.

Begin with relatives you see on a regular basis. Tread lightly with the in-laws, let your wife tell them (this is why it's important to have them on board). When you tell these close relatives, expect a barrage of questions and be prepared to answer them. Try not to be combative or defensive. They may suggest you are now a gun nut, or some kind of nut, they may think you are doing this out of some irrational fear, they will probably freak out about storage with kids in the house, etc. This is no time to discuss statistics or your hardline stance on the Second Amendment. Be prepared for all of the questions and stick to the facts. You have worked out the safe storage. You have sought instruction on how to safely store and use your gun. You are not a gun nut, but you wanted to be prepared in case you ever need to use a gun. You are simply taking a step in the direction of the defense of your home and family. Also, know the laws. If they ask "do you have a license", tell them that you don't have to have a license to own a gun. If they ask if you are carrying it with you right now, then tell them you are not carrying it (which you aren't, if you are new to this and don't yet have your CHL... otherwise don't carry a gun when you go to tell your folks about owning a gun for the first time!). Keep the discussion low-key and stay out of the emotional aspects as much as possible. No you are not afraid of anything. No you don't plan on shooting anybody. You just want to learn to use a gun and be prepared in case you ever have to. End of the story.

Your Friends
Now's the time to separate the wheat from the chaff. You have some peers, right? Some friends? Acquaintances? Do you have at least one friend who is a gun owner, who may be carrying or have a CHL? Is there someone you can talk to about this? Who all do you tell?

If you live in Texas then I can assure you that at least some of your friends own guns. In fact, probably most of them do. However, most of your friends who own guns probably own them for hunting, or have never shot them other than once or twice at a target, and may still think you are a nut if you want to carry. Remember in Texas about 50% or so of households have guns, but only about 3% of the adult population have a CHL. That's a big gap! Just statistically speaking then, if you have 30 or so friends, one of them probably has a CHL.

The idea of keeping quiet about gun ownership and CHLs is not just my opinion, but it's quite common. I found that I had a bunch of friends who had CHLs and I never knew it before. They just don't talk about it in mixed company, and neither should you. So you have some detective work to do. You will find out which friends are gun friendly and which are not. The majority are probably not gun friendly.

Once you begin to talk with the gun friendly peers about gun ownership, you are going to find your circle of friends getting larger quickly. I'll describe how it worked for me.

First, I had two friends I knew of who had guns. One of which had been advising me for many months about how to select a gun to buy, and the other I just knew he had one and on one occasion, he was carrying it when I was there (we were in a parking lot in the middle of the night and being approached by some shady looking folks, he mentioned he had a gun with him). So I started there. These guys were excellent resources to help me get up to speed before buying a gun. They didn't spread the word. But one of them mentioned that one of our other mutual friends had a private shooting range. That became the friend who gave my wife and I our hands-on instruction the first day we owned a gun, and I go shoot at that range all the time now.

Well one thing led to another. My wife goes and talks to everyone about her new gun and I can't get her to stop :) Finally half the county knows about it before I can put a lid on it. Well a couple of new friends begin to pop up all the time. Some guys go with me to my CHL class, one of which was an acquaintance and the other I had not met. The church security team started to recruit me. Friends talk to their friends and in six months I discover that I have a bunch of friends and acquaintances who go shooting with me, and a bunch of new friends too. And magically, none of these people talks about outside the circle of those they already know to be gun friendly, so somehow I manage to keep a lid on this so half of my friends don't even know.

The key is, be careful who you tell.

That's enough for Part 2. Part 3 will deal with the "gun culture" and issues like that.

Nonconformist's Guide To Gun Ownership Part 1

OK, so maybe this is you:

• Suburban or urban Gen-X
• You don't hunt or fish
  
• You don't own any camo clothing
• You are a Libertarian, a libertarian, or at least you agree with the Constitution
• You appreciate the ability to take responsibility for your own self and you don't expect anyone else to provide for you
• You don't even know where a firing range is
• You are not looking for a new hobby or to make any new social connections
  
• You've never even perused a copy of Guns and Ammo or Soldier of Fortune

If so, then you may find this guide useful.

First, a bit about myself. I fit the description above. I am a Christian, a father, a husband, a musician, and an engineer. I didn't grow up around guns, although my household contained two .22s when I was a kid. As far as I can remember, my dad only ever shot them once. Suffice to say, I grew up ambivalent about guns. However I have always been fiercely independent and a huge fan of the Bill of Rights. I never really had any warmer feelings for the Second Amendment than I did for any of the others. One day I woke up and realized that I didn't even know how to use a gun, even if I had to. I didn't know how to load a semi-automatic pistol, or how to use pistol sights. I didn't know how to buy ammunition. I didn't own a gun and I was not capable of making use of one. So what, right? Well certainly for every one of us, there is at least one circumstance where you can imagine you might want to know at least how to use a gun, right?

So one thing led to another and over a year's time I went from being fully ambivalent about guns to owning two pistols and having a Concealed Handgun License.

Why a Gun?
Well if you are reading this, you probably already figured this out. It is hard to see this looking at it from the non-gun-owner angle, but once you go down the road a little ways, you end up with your eyes opened up quite a bit.

A gun is a tool. Our founding fathers considered guns to be vital to preserve liberty. It is a basic "natural right" for people to maintain the tools that they can use to defend their lives and property. Guns are the most efficient tools to do this job.

I went down this train of thought:

1. I need to learn to use a gun, just because I don't want to be unprepared if someday I need to use one
2. I can see the usefulness of a gun in the car when traveling through unfamiliar areas, and the Texas law was changed last year to allow car carry unambiguously
3. In the slim chance that someone breaks into my house while my family is there, I would definitely rather have a gun in my hand
4. If I walk in on a burglar in my house, I want the gun with me and not in some safe inside the house
5. I would like to be able to defend my family when we are away from home, so I need to be able to carry a gun
6. If I am going to use a gun, I need to learn to shoot it accurately
7. If I am going to have a gun in the house, and I am going to carry one, then I need more than one.
8. If there are guns in my house, my wife and kids need to learn to handle them
9. My wife needs to learn to shoot a gun and handle it as well as I can
10. My wife and I both need Concealed Handgun Licenses

It is easy to think that guns are unnecessary or unreasonable for normal people to own and carry, but once you begin to really look at the statistics for violent crime and property crime, even in nice areas of safe cities, then it begins to make a lot more sense.

In summary it is better to have a gun and never need it than it is to need a gun and not have it. I hope to find myself an old man and feel like a fool for carrying a gun all this time since I never needed to use it.

New Friends
When I was new to gun ownership I found that much of the advice I was getting from well-meaning and knowledgeable people was hard for me to accept because it was clear that I had little in common with some of these people, and I could sense that they did not really relate to my situation.

It is an often denied fact that there exists sort of a "gun culture" that is kind of hostile to newcomers. These people are, for the most part, not openly objecting to new people but they do passively imply conformance to the group's attitudes is key to belonging. If you are a nonconformist, this is not going to work for you. So you may not want to belong! That doesn't mean you have to be uninformed or unarmed.

First of all, I am going to assume you are getting a gun or have a gun for home defense, and for self-defense.

Gun selection
If you are not going to hunt, live in the suburbs or an urban environment, and don't shoot guns as a hobby, then a hand gun is likely the best choice for both home defense and self-defense. A hand gun has the advantage of being portable easily in your car, concealable on your person, packable inside a bag you might be carrying, and ease of use within the confines of a house or apartment. Also the new gun owner/buyer might consider that if they have not grown up shooting guns, they will need to commit a lot of time and resources to practicing. Ammunition cost and availability might be a major factor. Ammunition is much more expensive than you might think! For these and other reasons, I recommend the first gun purchase be a compact high-capacity 9mm semi-automatic pistol for most nonconformist gun owners. Since your first gun may be your only gun for some time, there are some things to consider.

Practice. We are joining the team in the middle of a game. There are a lot of experts and experienced gun owners who already have a great deal of training so some complex things like combat reloading and operating safeties are second nature. But these add to the learning curve for those of us joining late and are an unnecessary impediment, IMHO. Likewise we need to practice a lot so cheap, ubiquitous ammo plus ergonomics, comfort, and recoil management of a hand gun are keys to frequent practice. Thus the 9mm semi-auto. 9mm ammunition is the least expensive of the effective defensive cartridge choices, and you can buy it at any gun store or even at Wal Mart.

Carry. Get a gun you can carry on your person. This is why I suggest a compact or midsize frame polymer 9mm. Something in the 25-ounce, 4" barrel, double-stack range. Ideally, a Glock G19 or M&P9 fits the bill.

Safety. You have to learn a new skill to learn to use whatever manual safeties exist on a hand gun. Among semi-automatic pistols, there are two broad categories: SA/DA, and DAO. Likewise these firearms usually fall into two basic camps of pistols: hammer-fired and striker-fired.

Real quick: With semi-automatic pistols, they are typically either fired by a striker, which is sort of a pin under spring pressure, or a hammer and firing pin. The hammer is rotated back under spring tension, then released and it hits a firing pin, which snaps forward to impact the primer in the cartridge and ignite the cartridge. SA, DA, and DAO stand for Single Action, Double Action, and Double Action Only. Single Action is a trigger mechanism wherein the trigger only releases the hammer while the hammer is fully under tension. Double Action refers to a trigger mechanism wherein the trigger pull is used to cock the hammer back during the first part of the trigger stroke, and then release it at the end. As you might imagine, cocking the hammer takes some amount of force, so a Double Action trigger is stiffer or harder to pull compared with a Single Action. Most hammer-fired semi-automatic pistols will fire the first shot in either Double Action mode, or you can manually cock the trigger back and then fire the first shot in Single Action. The recoiling action of the pistol when it fires actually cocks the hammer automatically and then the next shot is Single Action even without having to manually cock the hammer.

Double Action Only pistols are available both with a hammer, and also striker-fired. Striker fired pistols (such as a Glock, Kahr, Springfield XD, S&W Sigma/M&P, etc.) pistols have no hammer to protrude from the rear of the pistol, which may be of benefit if you are carrying. They are all DAO, since there is no hammer to be cocked. Most hammer-fired pistols have a manual safety, and most striker-fired pistols do not have a manual safety. Some pistols have other kinds of safeties such as a grip safety.

Further confusing this matter is frame material, and the infamous "1911". In short, a 1911 is not, in my opinion, the best choice for a first-time gun owner. Semi-automatic pistols are available in steel, aluminum and polymer frames, with the main difference being weight and percieved recoil. Limiting the choices to 9mm pistols, the recoil of a polymer gun is not unmanageable even for most children who are old enough to be firing a gun under supervision so there is not a real compelling reason to sacrifice the light weight of polymer pistols in favor of reduced recoil of steel. Aluminum, on the other hand, tends to have a harsh feeling recoil.

IMHO, a DAO trigger is plenty of safety and much less to have to learn. For this reason, I recommend the best safety for a new gun owner is a DAO pistol with a heavier (8lb or so), longer, deliberate DA trigger pull. You won't fail to pull the trigger under stress, but you might forget to turn off the safety. A harder trigger pull tends to ensure that your shot is deliberate and not an accident, but furthermore if you are learning for the first time, it is best not to have to rely on a light trigger in order for you to be able to shoot accurately. It takes effort and practice to learn trigger control and to keep the pistol on target while you pull the trigger. If you learn with a DAO pistol with a 8 lb trigger, then you can accurately shoot nearly any gun you find in your hand. On the other hand, if you are raised shooting single action, you may find that when you have to fire a DA pistol for whatever reason, you cannot hit your target because you are not trained to use the longer or harder trigger.

The manual safety feature that works best for a gun like I suggest is a holster with good retention and complete covering of the trigger. I want a gun that you just have to get in your hand, aim and pull the trigger with no other actions required, and minimal chances of a misfire, the hammer hanging up on clothing, or anything like that. Simple. This is a striker-fired, DAO pistol.

Capacity. I know there are a lot of "5 shots is enough" advocates but the simple fact is that no matter how fast some super great trained experts can reload a revolver or single-stack pistol, it is faster to not have to reload and it is one less thing you have to learn to do. Also, it is a fact that you can carry a pistol with 17 rounds loaded into it is only one thing to carry, while the equivalent firepower in a revolver would mean carrying the gun itself and three reloads. That's a lot of stuff to take with you. A typical medium-frame or compact-frame 9mm double-stack pistol holds around 15-17 rounds in the magazine, and one in the chamber (15+1 to 17+1). Double stack means the rounds line up in a zig-zag pattern in the magazine instead of one on top of the other, allowing for more rounds to fit in the grip.

Reliability, serviceability, warranty. After you've owned a gun for a while, you probably will learn to clean it, learn all kinds of things about this brand or that brand and their service records, warranty service quality, reliability, etc. But at first, I suggest very simply, get a gun that can be field stripped without tools, from a major US manufacturer with an excellent warranty track record, and with a lifetime warranty. Buy this gun brand new from a local gun shop. Smith and Wesson is a good example.

Extras. Now the other things you need to consider when buying a gun is that you are going to have to buy far more than just a gun. The first time you head to the range, you will discover that you need things like hearing protection, a range bag, targets and ammo. Once you get back from the range, you will discover you need a cleaning kit. Then once you get the gun clean, you will discover you need some kind of gun storage solution, like a quick-access safe. Once you consider carrying the gun, you will need a holster. Expect to spend just as much on "accessories" as you do on the gun. You probably need to budget as much for extras as you spend on the gun. Right off the bat, you are going to need:

• 200 rounds of ammunition, for your first 1-2 range outings, about $40
  
• range fee, which may be $15
• a package of high-visibility targets, about $5
• hearing protection, ear plugs will work but the "ear muffs" are easier to use, $10
• eye protection - use your sunglasses if you are outdoors, otherwise safety glasses, $10
• ready storage, a safe for your home to store the gun making it available for immediate use, $20-100
• cleaning kit, $20
  

Training
Once you get a gun, the very first thing you need to do, right here and now, immediately, is get some hands-on training on handling, loading, clearing, shooting, cleaning and storing your gun. Hands-on! Make friends with a gun expert and get them to accompany you to the range, and get complete instruction so you are confident that you can do all of the above and teach others to do the same.

You can schedule a basic pistol class and get professional training in the event you don't have a qualified friend. However I still strongly recommend using a friend and doing it ASAP. You will need to have a friend who you can talk to about questions regarding gun ownership, someone who has owned a gun for a long time. If you are anything like me, you may want to be very careful about who learns that you now have a gun and plan to learn to use it.

Storage
If you have a gun for home defense, you need to have it stored loaded and chambered. You also need to have it stored in such a way that you can access it when you need it, but if you have children or guests in the house, it needs to be absolutely secure. A quick-access safe like a GunVault sitting on your nightstand is one very good option. There are other options but you must think about it and solve this problem proactively.

The minimum for safety is to put a lock on the hard plastic case that the gun came with. This will not prevent the gun from getting stolen if you leave it locked up, and it doesn't work well with having the gun ready and available for use in the event you need it in an emergency. If you are going to store the gun in a loaded state, then at least while you are sleeping or home where you can be in control of the gun, you will want it ready and available. A GunVault or other quick access electronic safe is an expensive, but effective plan since it allows quick access without having to keep the gun unlocked. However, a basic pistol safe can be had from Wal Mart for as little as $20, along with a laptop locking cable to lock it to the bed frame or some other solid object, this will work. Then you would want to adopt a routine of locking the gun when you leave the house, and unlocking it when you get home or go to bed. You will want access to this safe near to your bed.

CHL or not CHL
Ok, you can carry in TX in your car. You can carry to and from the car. You can carry in your own house. This should be enough, right? I thought so, but quickly found that if I am at more risk when I am not at home, and not in my car, than I am when I am at home. I live in a very nice neighborhood in a very low-crime city, so virtually everywhere I go is higher risk than my home. Once I figured this out, I decided a CHL was a must. The cost is about $250-300 including the necessary class plus the CHL fee. If you travel to other states, then combining training for states like Utah or Florida that may give you greater CHL reciprocity coverage may be more economical the first time around compared to taking the necessary training for these other states' permits later on. So to CHL or not to CHL? Defintely, CHL.

A CHL gives you the option of carrying anywhere you like, provided it is legal. They will cover what constitutes the legal places to carry in your CHL class. Also getting a CHL gives you a basic primer on the laws of the State of Texas for concealed carry, and this is very important. While carrying in your car is legal, it may be a hassle which is avoided by having a CHL. In fact any time you are legally carrying where it would be legal without a CHL, it will be easier and more hassle-free if you are stopped if you do in fact have a CHL.

Mode of carry
You will certainly hear from a lot of knowledgable and well-meaning people that some modes of carry are better than others, some are foolish or unsafe, and that you have to dress around your gun. Well I have to say this: make up your own mind! There are some valid points but for the most part, what works for others may not work for you, and what the Conventional Internet Expert Wisdom dictates may not necessarily apply. With that said, here's my take.

First of all, some definitions and basic information.

The most basic purpose of the holster is not to hold the gun, but rather, to protect the trigger. A gun will not fire if the trigger is not pulled unless it is experiencing a severe malfunction. So protecting the trigger is job #1 of the holster. The next purpose is to secure the gun so it doesn't go flying when you run, jump, or fall down, etc. Then you select based on what your clothing will accomodate, your body size and type, budget, preferences, and comfort.

Holsters are made from materials such as leather, kydex and nylon. Leather holsters are premium and the best ones are "boned" or formed to fit your gun specifically, allowing for retention (the gun sort of "snaps" into the holster). Kydex is a polymer sheet material that is easily formed to fit a specific gun and they offer excellent retention along with light weight and low profile. Nylon holsters are not much good for anything except a stop-gap measure or maybe an ankle or shoulder rig, since they generally either are too flimsy to offer adequate trigger protection, or they are so thick and heavy that they are impossible to conceal.

Holsters come in a few basic types, related to how they are to be carried such as shoulder rig, belt holsters (inside the waistband or IWB and outside the waistband or OWB), ankle holsters, deep concealment holsters (worn completely under clothing including the grip), pocket holsters, and holsters that fit in a bag or come equipped with a bag such as a fanny pack or a holster purse.

There are a couple of dimensional features of a holster such as cant, drop, and belt attachment type. I won't get deep into it here but basically to say, cant is the angle that the gun is held. The further towards your back you carry the gun, the more you will want it canted. For behind-your-hip type of carry, 15 degrees works well and is pretty standard. For appendix carry (right in the front), straight-drop (no cant) works well. For small of the back, more cant may be helpful. Drop or ride height refers to how high the gun rides. There is no standard measurement. Most holsters have about the same ride height, and higher may make a larger gun easier to conecal but harder to keep in one spot. Lower ride height works well for appendix carry especially with a small gun, but if you get the front edge of the grip below the belt line then getting a "combat grip" on the gun may be difficult.

Holster placement around the belt is often talked about with clock type of directions. So 3:00 would be carrying the gun directly on your right hip, 6:00 would be directly in the back, etc. Strong side means your dominant hand side, and cross-draw means the butt of the gun is facing forward and you have to draw across your body. Shoulder rigs are typically cross-draw, belt rigs are typically strong-side. If you are left handed, everything reverses.

One important thing to consider about mode of carry is the tactical situation. Consider you are being mugged. The mugger is going to likely demand your wallet. You will then make a move with your right hand towards your hip pocket. It would be nice if that's where your gun is, so you can draw your gun instead of the wallet. Likewise if you are wearing a suit coat, maybe you carry your wallet inside your left coat breast. A pistol in a shoulder rig would be positioned ideally to draw on the ruse of going for your wallet. This is where ankle rigs and some deep concealment rigs make no sense.

OWB (outside the waistband) is nearly impossible for concealment in Texas. Forget it.

If you took my suggestion on a midsize double-stack 9mm automatic, then an ankle rig is not going to work. Plus the draw from an ankle rig is not very good.

Pocket carry is a nice idea, but if you have only one gun and your one gun is a double-stack 9mm as I recommended, then it won't work for you unless you are the size of Yao Ming.

Strong-side IWB (inside the waistband) with a kydex or other holster that does not collapse when you draw is definitely the easiest for draw, and the hardest for concealment, of the viable options. This type of carry will likely require adjustment of your clothing. You may have to buy pants that are 1" larger than your current pants if you don't already have some room in your current wardrobe. You may also have to restrict what shirts you can wear that will cover the gun adequately. I also found that I am wearing a wicking undershirt all of the time when I am carrying IWB because it keeps the gun off of my skin. Many people also find that they benefit from a gun belt, but with a light weight pistol carried IWB, a gun belt is not absolutely necessary.

The risk of breaking your spine due to a fall when carrying small-of-back (SOB) are usually overstated. The risk of someone else taking a concealed firearm from your small-of-back carry position is almost zero, which will be very clear to you the first time you try and carry this way. Actually it is much easier for a BG to come up behind you and take away your strong side 3:00 carry weapon, but none of this is any real risk if you conceal effectively. Drawing from SOB is not difficult but not super easy either, and contrary to the convetional naysayer wisdom, it does not require you to "sweep your body" when you draw. It does require practice. Most dedicated SOB holsters are outside-the-waistband type and will require a gun belt for them to work correctly (otherwise your pants will sag in the rear... not good). A regular strong-side IWB holster carried at the 5:00 or so position is nearly small-of-back and works well, plus gives the flexibility of carrying in other positions.

A Smartcarry is a valuable carry method for a small gun when you might have to wear clothes that don't work well with a belt like sweat pants or shorts. IMHO I wouldn't carry a SA pistol with a manual safety in one of these (or in any other method, because I don't reccommend this type of pistol anyway), due to the risk of an ND in the holster leading to a shot in the femoral artery. This same risk applies to any "appendix" carry option.

There are other deep concealment methods such as holster shirts and belly bands, all of which are not workable for a double-stack 9mm.

$60-75 is worth it for a very good holster. Crossbreed Supertuck and Comp-Tac MTAC are supremely functional and comfortable.

Stay tuned for Part 2