Biloxi, Mississippi — (AmmoLand.com) – April 14, 2015, a man holding his three month old infant son was attacked by a gang of teenagers in the middle of the day at a gas station in Memphis, Tennessee. The man was beaten and bruised but he managed to shelter his infant with his body.
August 26, 2014, Ralph Weems IV was attacked while trying eat at a restaurant in West Point, Mississippi. The assailants were a gang of black men screaming about “justice for Michael Brown.” Weems was beaten so severely that he was put into a coma and doctors fear he will have permanent brain damage.
You are reading this article because you are either a gun carrier or are considering carrying a gun. What I am going to ask you now is to consider what kind of gun you are carrying or thinking about carrying.
Many years ago my friend Walter Rauch (former Secret Service agent and one of the founders of IDPA) opined that American men like to “talk .45’s, shoot 9mm’s and carry .38s.” With the rampant popularity of the compact .380 pistol during the last decade, I would surmise that the last part of that statement could be modified slightly.
Pen Lights and Pocket Guns
A few years ago I attended an event put on by a friend at Gunsite training academy called “Pen lights and Pocket Guns.” For three days we used .380 ACP pocket guns and .38 Special snub-nosed five-shot revolvers as well as the small “Backup” light from SureFire. Basic range drills on paper silhouettes were a pretty standard affair; stand, aim, shoot. However, after the day one warm-ups we moved on to the live-fire shoot houses in the day time and then at night.
On the third day we had to fight “the robot” (a remote controlled armored chassis with a cardboard or plastic target man on top). The shoot house required us to move around, use cover and engage multiple threats at varied distance. Engaging the robot was naturally a greater challenge as it could move and charge you very quickly and it was unpredictable.
After three solid days of training, everyone present had learned many lessons and were left with lasting impressions. “Pocket guns are there to protect your virtue.” stated one instructor. Another said that “A pocket gun is what you carry when you can’t carry a real gun.”
During the lowlight shoot house drills it was readily apparent that the point and shoot method offered by experts becomes a dicey operation, especially when the target at the end of the hallway is holding “your daughter” and trying to get away with her. Regardless of the target, small guns are tough to get good hits with under any type of realistic stress. Reloading a pocket .380 or even a .38 DA revolver under stress is quite the challenge, even for skilled shooters. Many of the participants found themselves with empty guns in hand as the robot kept charging after taking only marginal hits.
The moral of the story is this: a pocket gun is better than no gun at all. However, if you are serious about coming out on top of a violent encounter, a full-sized gun is a more prudent choice.
Full Sized Pistol EDC
Frequently I hear excuses about how it is not practical or possible to carry a “big gun.” Men and women alike give themselves reasons to either not carry or carry something marginal. Again, A GUN is better than NO GUN, but let’s consider the two incidents mentioned above. Both situations involved multiple attackers mercilessly beating their victims. It was shear luck and good fortune that prevented the infant in story number 1 from life-threatening harm. In story number two the victim will likely live but carry the results of the attack for life.
Put yourself in that position. Two, three, or more thugs decide that they are going to beat you to death. What would you rather have in your hands; a compact .380 that holds six shots or duty-size gun that hold 15 plus rounds? Are you willing to bet your life on the fact that the gang of thugs will be impressed by the .380 and run away? Do you think they will even notice as they are stomping you into the asphalt?
Step 1: Polymer is your friend
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