Anyone conceal carry?

[DJEtzel]

Originally Posted by Snark

Sis and I are thinking about taking the conceal/carry class, a couple of women at work have already taken it. We went to a gun shop last week to check out what they had and could recommend. We're leaning towards .38 revolvers as opposed to semi-automatics, mostly from Dad's recommendation. His opinion is that revolvers won't jam and you always know if there is a round in the chamber. He has quite a few revolvers (was in law enforcement and holds a High Master rating in pistol shooting) but they're all rather large for our small hands.

I was thinking of a revolver for the same reason. I don't have a ton of knowledge on guns so I would need to talk to more professionals about it obviously, but I worry that working with dogs, there's just too much of a chance at guns getting dislodged/moved/knocked around on me. Which I've also been wonder, "Is it worth it?" I may decide not to carry when I'm working around dogs, but that is 80% of my time! I watch dogs in my home, work at a dog park, and assist in group training classes.

Then again, I'm always a little more paranoid than I need to be.

[Snark]

Originally Posted by DJEtzel

I was thinking of a revolver for the same reason. I don't have a ton of knowledge on guns so I would need to talk to more professionals about it obviously, but I worry that working with dogs, there's just too much of a chance at guns getting dislodged/moved/knocked around on me. Which I've also been wonder, "Is it worth it?" I may decide not to carry when I'm working around dogs, but that is 80% of my time! I watch dogs in my home, work at a dog park, and assist in group training classes.

Then again, I'm always a little more paranoid than I need to be.

Well, Dad has always kept the first chamber empty on his revolvers for safety reasons (dropping it accidentally, etc.) and Mom kept the first 2 chambers of her .38 empty for the same reason and also so she didn't accidentally shoot someone she didn't mean to (such as Dad coming back early from a trip unexpectedly).

[Pops2]

Okay first, unless he got dishonorably discharged for a truly heinous crime, there is no such thing as an ex-Marine. And Marine must always be capitalized when used as a proper noun or an adjective in a proper noun. For example your boyfriend is a Marine, the POTUS helicopter is Marine One, and God bless the US Marine Corps.

I don't generally carry and haven't for a long time. I do however maintain situational awareness, and as per James Mattis I am polite but I have a plan to kill pretty much everyone I meet. However I strongly support as many women as possible carrying.

[Pops2]

Originally Posted by Snark

Well, Dad has always kept the first chamber empty on his revolvers for safety reasons (dropping it accidentally, etc.) and Mom kept the first 2 chambers of her .38 empty for the same reason and also so she didn't accidentally shoot someone she didn't mean to (such as Dad coming back early from a trip unexpectedly).

Get a Ruger or other revolver with a transfer bar system, no firing pin on the hammer and the bar is down out of the way until the trigger is pulled. All of that means you could drop it directly on the hammer from 20, 50 or even 100 feet and it won't fire.

[Julee]

Rick plans on it as soon as he turns 21, I'd like to but I'm not sure if it's going to happen or not. Time will tell.

[DJEtzel]

Originally Posted by Pops2

Okay first, unless he got dishonorably discharged for a truly heinous crime, there is no such thing as an ex-Marine. And Marine must always be capitalized when used as a proper noun or an adjective in a proper noun. For example your boyfriend is a Marine, the POTUS helicopter is Marine One, and God bless the US Marine Corps.

I don't generally carry and haven't for a long time. I do however maintain situational awareness, and as per James Mattis I am polite but I have a plan to kill pretty much everyone I meet. However I strongly support as many women as possible carrying.

He was honorably discharged, but does not consider himself a Marine, therefore I do not either. It is really his preference, though I understand your thought. He WAS a Marine, and does not stand for a single thing he stood for then, or that the Marines stand for.

Originally Posted by Pops2

Get a Ruger or other revolver with a transfer bar system, no firing pin on the hammer and the bar is down out of the way until the trigger is pulled. All of that means you could drop it directly on the hammer from 20, 50 or even 100 feet and it won't fire.

Thank you for the recommendation! This is pretty much what my dad and I were talking about the other night, for the ability to not accidentally discharge easily.

[crazedACD]

I'd probably need to go to a few classes and get some experience before I decided to get a gun. I've shot on a range once in my life, that is as far as my experience with guns go.

This might be a stupid question but I'm curious . In a stressful situation, what are the odds of being able to get the gun drawn and shoot the aggressor? Is it really worth it? What if a wild animal or stray dog popped out and attacked me or my dog on a hike or something? If someone came into my house at night? Do you normally keep your gun on like..the nightstand? I think I need some gun safety/handling classes .

[DJEtzel]

Originally Posted by crazedACD

I'd probably need to go to a few classes and get some experience before I decided to get a gun. I've shot on a range once in my life, that is as far as my experience with guns go.

This might be a stupid question but I'm curious . In a stressful situation, what are the odds of being able to get the gun drawn and shoot the aggressor? Is it really worth it? What if a wild animal or stray dog popped out and attacked me or my dog on a hike or something? If someone came into my house at night? Do you normally keep your gun on like..the nightstand? I think I need some gun safety/handling classes .

I'm honestly not sure about actual statistics... But typically, carrying classes go hand in hand with situational awareness. So 9 times out of 10, it's hoped that you can recognize a bad situation coming before you're put in it, so that you are prepared to react appropriately, basically.

I'm not sure how quickly I would be able to pull a gun if a dog jumped out of the bushes on my unexpectedly, but honestly, I wouldn't be shooting a dog (or bear, or cougar) until AFTER it attacked me, for liability reasons and endangerment reasons. I would use it to defend myself, not to prevent things from happening. It is said that you should never draw your weapon unless you are prepared to kill with it.

As for the house, yes! When we get handguns, they will stay on the night stands or in the living room by the computer. We keep our .22 laying at the foot of the bed. Many people have shotguns behind bedroom/front doors, etc. and it's surprisingly easy/quick to grab when you think something is going astray. I frequently dart into the bedroom for the gun and come out to open the front door and check. Scared the CRAP out of a UPS man a few weeks ago that was creeping around my house for idk what reason. And he deserved it. XD

[SizzleDog]

I carry - Ruger LC9. Not the fanciest, but it's a good size and reliable. My biggest problem with anything bigger than my LC9 is that it's too difficult to effectively conceal unless I want to wear baggy clothing and/or mom jeans. Iowa is open carry so it doesn't really matter, but I still don't like to bring attention to it.

As for home defense... we have much larger guns for that.

[CharlieDog]

I posted to this before, but it got eaten by the spam filter I guess.

I have my CCW license, and I carry a glock 22, the full size .40 glock. I love this gun. It's seriously the best one I shot/tested before buying, I have relatively weak hands and a bad wrist, and I can still rack the slide on it with no problems, in either hand. The only other gun I might want for CC is a sig .40

I am allowed to coceal OR open carry with my license, and sometimes it just depends on my mood what I choose to do. I can conceal the full size frame of this gun, but only with a hoodie or a jacket on. The holster I use doesn't allow for carrying in the small of my back, or I could do it with just a baggy t-shirt. Which is what I wear anyway.

I also have a drop leg holster that I carry with sometimes, simply for ease of access while driving vs the hip holster. It gets some strange looks if I'm wearing civilian clothing, but wearing camo it doesn't get a second look usually lol.

I also like the Baretta px4 Storm my friend has, but it's a 9mm, and I prefer the .40 caliber. Purely personal preference, as knock-down power is a myth.

I will add, stay away from Glock if you want a "real" safety. The Glock has a trigger safety, but as it uses a firing pin vs a hammer, there isn't a true safety on the gun. This can be an issue if you want to carry with a round in the chamber and you are around small children and/or stupid adults. Glock is safety tested against misfires with dropping the gun loaded though, I think from 2 meters onto a steel plate, so the danger isn't dropping it loaded, it's stupid people who don't clear the chamber before picking up a weapon and children who don't know any better.

Part of owning a gun, any gun, is not allowing either category access to your weapon.