More and more Arkansans carry a concealed firearm as a part of their everyday life. And, as long as those carrying are both careful and responsible, that is not a bad thing. To be honest with you, I feel safer in places that allow concealed carry than in places that don't because I view that "no weapons" sign on the door as a sign telling a criminal he will meet little or no resistance there if he carries a weapon and is intent on some criminal activity.
What I do question is the reasoning some people advance in choosing a weapon to use for concealed-carry protection.
I hear it all the time if I wander by the looking glass at a gun shop: a somewhat more experienced shooter telling a novice shooter (often a wife or girlfriend) to buy this or that high-dollar and high-capacity handgun with fancy sights as a concealed-carry piece. But that's not what I would recommend.
So, which gun is best for concealed carry? Obviously, there is no one right answer. If anyone knew just when and where the occasion would arise in which a firearm was needed to defend himself or a family member, it would help. Of course, if a person knew the when and the where, he would be wiser to be carrying a shotgun or a rifle instead of a handgun or, far better, to avoid the place altogether.
But, even though people might consider all sorts of conceivable scenarios in their minds, when the real event comes (which, thankfully, never does for most folks), it comes unexpectedly and as a complete surprise. If it could be anticipated, the question would also arise as to why anyone would go there in the first place as a private citizen, not authorized or out there to hunt down bad guys and make arrests.
As a former law-enforcement officer, it's sometimes hard for me to divorce my thinking from that former role and remember that it's no longer my job to pursue the bad guys or purposely put myself in places or situations where I can counter or deter the plans of criminals. And, if I were to do that as a private citizen and ended up using deadly force, a judge would have every right to question my actions.
My point is this: Concealed-carry permit holders are authorized to carry a firearm to protect themselves and those around them from great bodily harm or death at the hands of another; but that permit does not authorize them to play police officer and track down or pursue bad guys. And this should have some effect on which gun a private citizen chooses to carry. While it is his right, does a private citizen need to be armed for a protracted gun battle or simply to defend himself or herself and escape a bad situation? Does a private citizen need to carry a heavy-duty semi-auto and several high-capacity magazines or will a small five-shot revolver do?
I don't count myself as an expert on bullet ballistics or on firearm designs, but I did learn a few things during my years in law enforcement and as range master for our little rural sheriff's department. And this is what I tell people when it comes to carrying a firearm for self defense:
1) Choose and carry a handgun which fits the hand well and naturally goes to the point of aim. This is different for everyone and will likely mean different firearms for different folks. To see if a firearm goes naturally to the desired point of aim requires that one draw the firearm from the holster, scabbard or pocket and point it at a target. This, of course, is practiced with the gun unloaded and doubly checked to be sure it is unloaded. When the gun is drawn and pointed, then check the sights to see if you are on target. If you are consistently off target, a different set of grips or a different handgun may be the solution.
I carried and qualified with a Smith & Wesson .45 ACP when I attended the police academy but later swapped it for a Beretta 92 (or M9). Why? I didn't do it because I needed the higher capacity of the Beretta. I did it because the Beretta fit my hand better and it was on target when I pointed it. With the Smith, I would draw and point but always have to adjust it a bit with the sights to come on target. This is no criticism of the Smith & Wesson. It was a good firearm. It just didn't fit my hand well. Others may have found just the opposite to be true, making the Smith a better choice for them.
Why select a gun that naturally goes to point of aim? That too is simple. In a real-life shooting situation, chances are good it will happen so fast and so close that gun sights will receive little use. That's why I chuckle a bit to myself when I hear people talking of how much they spent to have the latest and greatest in sights -- though I will acknowledge that a red dot on a bad guy's chest might be an encouragement to give up his fight. My preference was to carry a handgun that just pointed naturally for me and which I could have on target even if I didn't or couldn't look at my sights. And my gun sights? My preference when I carried concealed while off duty was fixed and minimal to avoid snags if I needed to draw it from a pocket or inside-the-pants type holster.
2) Choose and carry a handgun that is so simple to operate that you can count on it to go bang when you pull the trigger. Unless you are able to practice often and regularly, a gun with a safety or two or a sight to turn on is likely to fail you in an emergency when the adrenaline starts to flow. In other words, if you have to stop and think about how to turn off a safety, cock a hammer or turn on a laser sight, your chances of survival are not so good. I've seen it on the police range. The drawn pistol doesn't fire and a second or two is lost while the shooter remembers his safety is on or he didn't have a round in the chamber or had to squeeze a button to turn on his sights.
That's where double-action revolvers and pistols have their big advantages. You draw your weapon, point and aim, and squeeze the trigger. It shoots. There are no external safeties to remember to flip off and no extra buttons to push. Though harder for some to shoot accurately, revolvers also have the advantage of allowing the shooter to keep shooting even if a round should fail to fire. There is no need to remember to tap, rack and clear to stay in the fight for one's life. And that round that didn't go off the first time might even go off when the wheel comes back around and the hammer drops on it a second time.
3) Choose a handgun that is reliable. For many, this may mean spending a lot to buy a specific model or a gun made by a well-known manufacturer. For me it means buying and carrying a gun which goes bang every time the trigger is pulled and which is not plagued by such things as failure to feed properly or failure to fire consistently.
Price and brand name don't always guarantee reliability. I've seen a lot of high-dollar and high-quality firearms fail to cycle and fire with a just a little bit of sand or grit in the mix (something pretty common in western Kansas) while the less expensive weapons continued to cycle and fire no matter how dirty. Some time at the range with your gun and the ammunition you intend to carry is a must, both to check the gun's reliability and to become accustomed to shooting and reloading the gun.
4) Choose a handgun that you will actually carry on your person. Many might wish they had a high-capacity magnum when that need arose to stop a bad guy who was threatening their life or the life of another, but the truth is that a gun which is left at home or in the car because it is too heavy to carry or too hard to conceal won't do a lot of good should that moment of truth suddenly arise while walking through the parking lot to the car or standing in line at the neighborhood market. A gun in the hand is better than two somewhere else. And, for that reason, I recommend buying a firearm which is easy to conceal and light enough that you'll carry it everywhere you can legally do so. Most would recommend at least a .38 special or a 9mm, but even a .22 or .25 is far better than nothing and may stop an attack. (I carried a .22 pistol under the seat in my patrol car, both as a backup and to put down suffering animals injured on the rural highways I patrolled, and a well-placed shot did the job quickly on both cattle and deer whenever the need arose.)
5) Choose a handgun that you enjoy shooting and can shoot reasonably well. I say this for two reasons. The first is so that practicing will be enjoyable rather than unpleasant or painful because practicing regularly is important. If a firearm is a pain to shoot, practicing becomes a pain too and will probably be infrequent. On the other hand, if shooting is enjoyable, practicing often will be much more likely.
Secondly, and this relates to the points above, choosing a handgun you can shoot well is important if you are going to hit your target. Some struggle with semi-autos and reloading magazines and others don't do well with the long double-action trigger pull and smaller grips of a .38 snubbie. Choose what works for you and then practice with it until accuracy becomes second nature. That's important if you hope to stop the threat when and if that unexpected moment ever comes.
And, as a final remark, though obtaining a concealed-carry permit is not all that difficult to do, it is a weighty responsibility which one should not take lightly. Even though I'm an advocate of the Second Amendment and gun rights, I wouldn't recommend concealed carry for everybody. Those who choose to carry need to be careful to follow the laws, to make sure their firearm never ends up in the wrong hands, to use extreme care and prevent accidents, and to do all in their power to avoid ever needing to use it.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer and a former law-enforcement officer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 02/15/2017