What Is “Enough Gun”?

Earlier this month, I wrote a piece on concealed carry guns for women at Shooting Illustrated that’s proven to be quite popular with men and women alike. One of the consistent comments I’ve had about the article is that some of the guns that were a popular choice for concealed carry, like the NAA .22 Revolver and the Kel-Tec PMR30 are in “sub-optimal” calibers for personal defense. 

Which begs the question, what is an “optimal caliber” for self-defense, and what happens if you go over or under it?

Well, that’s kinda like asking what is the best car: You’re going to get a lot of answers, and they all depend on the  context. Most experts will tell you, though, that something in the range of 9mm-.45ACP range is where you want to be, and in that range, I personally prefer 9mm, but smart people disagree on this issue, so there is no “right choice”. 

What happens when you chose a gun that’s in a smaller caliber, like .380 ACP or .22 Magnum? Well, you need to make up for the lighter, slower bullets in those guns by throwing out more of them at your target. 

I carry a Kel-Tec P3AT in .380 ACP on a regular basis, and that is considered by some to be “sub-optimal” because it fires a lighter  bullet at slower speeds than it’s bigger cousin, the 9mm. I make up for this fact by putting a laser sight on it to make sure my bullets go where I want them to. I don’t feel “undergunned” when I carry the P3AT, because I’ve practiced with that gun enough to know its limitations and can work around them. Is it my first choice in a defensive gun? No, if given the choice, I want to have a rifle with me if I can. Actually, I want a whole bunch of people with rifles with me (Like, say, a company of Marines) if *know* I’ll be getting into trouble on any given day. 

But I don’t know that on any given day. All I know is that I can carry small, lightweight guns in small, lightweight calibers almost everywhere I go, which fulfills the first rule of a gunfight, namely, have a gun. 

Having “enough gun” is something I’ll leave for another day.

Stay safe no matter where you go.

Let’s talk for a moment about a few other options for personal defense that DON’T involve a firearm. If you work in a location that bans “weapons” such as most knives and all guns, there are still a lot of self-defense options available to you. Here’s some suggestions that I’ve found might work in more restrictive locations, but as always, these are suggestions, and use them at your own risk.

First off, use your brain, and don’t do dumb things in dumb places with dumb people.

Secondly, have a good, strong, bright flashlight with you, and use it whenever you go out at night. That mugger in the parking lot might pass you by and find an easier target if you walk out of your building shining a flashlight that could light up a small neighborhood. In addition to this, that flashlight makes a DANDY striking tool if (God forbid) the worst happens and you’re attacked.

Thirdly, just because you can’t have a gun or a knife with you doesn’t mean you’re unarmed. Some options for self-defense besides a flashlight might be:

• Keep a can of wasp spray in your desk. It’s nasty, nasty stuff and foams up very nicely, blocking the bad guy’s vision and impairing his breathing.
• Fire extinguishers. Like wasp spray, they block vision and impair breathing and are 100% innocuous.
• A hammer. No one will bat an eye if you have a hammer in your desk for small repairs or hanging pictures, but they make a heck of a weapon if needed. War hammers were the weapon of choice in Western Europe for hundreds of years, so they should work for you, too.
• Multitool blades. No, they’re not a Spyderco or Benchmade, yes, they are better than harsh language, and no one will freak if you have a pair of pliers, a bottle opener and a nail file near you.

But as I said at the start, the most powerful weapon you have (and the only one you really need) is what’s in-between your ears. Situational awareness, or paying attention to what you’re paying attention to, will help you avoid the trouble in the first place. 

And no trouble is just the kind of trouble you want to have.

Somebody Else Isn’t Going To Help You.

My friend Kathy Jackson has a great post on how all of us tend to think that bad things will always happen to somebody else, when in reality, we are just somebody else’s “somebody else”.

I confess, I lived like that for a long, long time. I grew up in Canada, and despite having some sky-high murder rates, we never thought of violent crime as something that affected us. We lived in good neighbourhoods, we didn’t do stupid things with stupid people, and besides, there would ALWAYS be a Mountie nearby when we needed one, right?

Then one night, a group of friends and myself went camping, and late at night, after we’d all retired, a group of yokels made camp near us, lit up a huge bonfire and started shooting shotguns off into the air, and I realized that if they meant to do us harm, a cop would NOT be there to protect us and the only thing we had to defend ourselves was a hatchet.

Somebody else’s problem became MY problem, and quickly. That’s when I realized that believing bad things only happened to other people was not going to keep me safe, I was going to have to be my own first responder. 

What’s your story? When do you realize it self-defense wasn’t someone else’s problem?

 

Teach your kids about guns.

I have two wonderful sons. They’re the reason why I own guns. I know that there won’t be a cop around when I need one, because crooks are really, really good at finding opportunities to attack people when there’s not cops around. 

That’s why they’re called “crooks” and not “convicted, locked-up criminals”. 

I digress…

One of my priorities is making sure my kids know that guns are dangerous things and should not be played with. Before I bought my first gun for home defense, I bought and installed a quick-access safe to store it in, and I also ordered the free Eddie The Eagle DVD from the NRA. 

Why that DVD? Because it’s excellent, and the NRA is the world’s largest firearms training organization, that’s why. If you have kids, you need to have them watch it, because it works. 

How do I know that? 

A few months ago, we were cleaning out the trunk of my car, and my sons found a few loose shotgun shells rattling around the trunk. My youngest son immediately stopped what he was doing and asked me what I wanted them to do. He knew to “STOP! – Don’t Touch – Leave the Area- Tell an Adult.” when he saw that ammo because they learned it from the NRA’s DVD.

Win. 

If you’re reading this, you might be a winner!

And if you aren’t reading thing, you definitely are NOT a winner. 

So we pulled numbers out of a hat, and we have our winners in the TeamGunBlogger / MyGunCulture Ultimate Concealed Carry Giveaway! 

They are… 

First Prize: TeamGunBlogger Twitter follower Stand-Fast America

• DeSantis Superfly holster for pocket semiautomatics
• DeSantis EZ-Rider II RH Belt/Portfolio holster
• DeSantis Apache RH Ankle Holster
• Book: The Rookie’s Guide to Guns and Shooting, Handgun Edition
• Book: The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters

Second Prize: My Gun Culture Twitter follower Mike Clinton

• Book: The Rookie’s Guide to Guns and Shooting, Handgun Edition
• Book: The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters

Third Prize: My Gun Culture Facebook follower Tom Jeffries

• Book: The Rookie’s Guide to Guns and Shooting, Handgun Edition
• Book: The Insanely Practical Guide to Gun Holsters

If you’ve won, know someone who’s won, or just like to think you’re a winner, we’ll be contacting (or have already contacted you) regrading shipping. 

Thanks to everyone who entered, and stick around, because apparently Tom has something ELSE up his sleeve. Hmmn, I wonder what it is…

Wait, did we say the Ultimate Office Concealed Carry Giveaway was ending soon?

We’re not done yet! 

Tom McHale from MyGunCulture.com has graciously anted up two more prizes, so now we have a Second Prize and a Third Prize. 

2nd Prize and 3rd Prize are a paperback copy of The Rookie’s Guide to Guns and Shooting and a paperback copy of The Insanely Practical Guide to Holsters. 

So that’s a chance to win 6 books, 3 holsters and a night out on the town with Kate Upton*, all for just liking Teamgunblogger or MyGunCulture on Facebook and/or following us or him on Twitter. 

And because of all this extra added awesomeness, we’re adding on another week to the contest: Now we’re shutting the whole thing down at midnight on September 8th. 

This is it, though. No more added prizes. No more dates with supermodels. You’ve got until September 8th, and that’s it, this is over with, so enter now. Kate Upton is waiting for you.

*Note: Kate Upton not included 

 

Should Your Firearms Trainer Be A Combat Veteran?

 

It’s not uncommon these days to see firearms trainers talk about their experience overseas as something that makes them a better firearms teacher.

This is probably true if I’m headed overseas to serve in Afghanistan. 

But I’m not. I’m headed out to Wal-Mart later today, not Khandahar, so the knowledge of how to lay down covering fire with an M4 or call in an airstrike is of limited use to me. Not knocking those have or who are serving: They’ve done more to defend this country than I have and they will always have my respect. It’s just that the combat skillset needed to win a firefight doesn’t translate automatically into the skillset needed to survive a mugging. 

An example: My friend Don is a crackerjack photographer and an excellent photography teacher, but his degree is in music composition. He was trained to be a jazz musician, but he’s one of the best photo teachers in the world and has authored a bunch of books on learning photography because he teaches what he knows and knows what he teaches is of use to the people who take his classes. 

The point of instruction is to have your instructor teach you something you can use, not tell you about all the things he knows. You don’t want a firearms teacher who’s seen it all and done it all if he can’t teach you something you need to know. A firearms trainer shouldn’t teach theory or have a bunch of really cool stories to tell, a firearms trainer should teach skills that you can call upon if (God forbid) you need them one day. 

Announcing The Ultimate Office Concealed Carry Giveaway

When I said “Free Stuff”, I wasn’t kidding. Announcing…

Here’s the deal. We have three great holsters for pocket semi-automatics to give away, along with two funny and informative books on concealed carry. From now until midnight Arizona time on Labour Day (or Labor Day to all my non-Canadian friends) each “Like” and “Follow” on either our Twitter feed or Facebook page is one chance to win, and each like or follow on MyGunCulture‘s Twitter feed or Facebook page is another chance to win, so with four clicks of the mouse, you’ll have four chances to win.

And to think people play the lottery instead of following us on Facebook. Our contest doesn’t even require you to spend HOURS scratching off a square on a ticket! 

All of this will go to the lucky winner:

A DeSantis Superfly holster for pocket semiautomatics

A DeSantis EZ-Rider II RH Belt/Portfolio holster

A DeSantis Apache RH Ankle Holster

A paperback copy of The Rookie’s Guide to Guns and Shooting, Handgun Edition

A paperback copy of The Insanely Practical Guide To Gun Holsters

That’s a prize packaging worth more than, umn, well, a lot. And all of it could be yours if you jump on board our Twitter feed, Facebook page or MyGunCulture’s Facebook page or Twitter feed. 

Look, you’d have to be an idiot or Nancy Pelosi not to do this. Or both. So do it. 

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