Online-offline Selling and You

In other words: *list. Sure, it's just a step from newspaper classifieds, but the fact that it's free - and easy - attracts a much higher volume. Pick any private classified section (i.e., not "legal notices" or "real estate") in your local litterbox liner. Count the ads.

Flip over to your local *list site. Find the same section and count. I'll bet you a stale donut there's several times if not an order of magnitude more.

Is it a good way to find a buyer for your stuff? Absolutely. I've sold all kinds of crap online. Old optical drives. Movies. Decoys. Cameras. I've bought all kinds of crap online too. Antiques, oddities, a gun, etc.

There's been one common theme about those things, though: they're portable.

The anonymity of *list works both ways. If someone is trying to do you (or anyone, really) harm, a gmail account is free and a pre-paid cell phone is $30. With those two things, I can be anyone I wish.

Remember all the advice you've heard over the years about meeting people from teh innertoobz? Take a friend? Meet in a public place? Just because you're not meeting this person with the intention/hope of swapping bodily fluids doesn't mean you shouldn't take the same precautions - or even more. You're going to be bringing cash to this deal, and in some instances, quite a bit of it. (I sold a camera for a few hundred bucks, I bought a rifle for about as much.)

Regardless of whether you're buying or selling, safety works both ways. Every time I've sold something, I've suggested meeting in a public place. The parking lot of a shopping center, a local coffee shop, whatever. When buying, I've tried the same approach, but some sellers don't want to go to the effort. Their choice - and if things sound hinky, don't be afraid to back out of the deal beforehand.

Going to someone's house to buy something? Take a friend, and preferably two. One should ride on your belt and say something like, "9x19mm," and the other should be flesh-and-blood and wait in the car while you do your transaction. This isn't paranoia, it's preparedness.

Occasionally, however, you're going to have to bring a buyer into your domain. Example: today I sold a washing machine. There's no way I'm going to load it into my truck and take it to the mall parking lot to show to a "maybe" buyer.

So how do you get ready for that? Have whatever you're selling in a "public" area of the house. Don't tromp someone upstairs and into the bedroom to look at a bed frame: have it in the den/dining room/kitchen and ready to go. Put away ANYTHING that could be considered "easy taking". Wallets, keys, cameras, purses, laptop bags, etc. Make a quick look around and try to make some effort to keep people out of sight of the "hard taking but worth it" targets: nice AV equipment, the desktop computer, or the gun safe.

If you can have two people home, then do it. The second person doesn't have to be involved, just around with a phone nearby. Make sure you've got the OTHER friend handy - and if it's practical, a bigger friend is not a bad idea.

Don't leave your buyer unattended inside - not even for a second. It's simply asking for trouble. If they ask to use the bathroom or a glass of water, deflect. "Sorry, we're having problems with the septic and can't run any more water than we absolutely have to." "Our water is terrible - lots of sulfur." Improvise!

Today, selling the washing machine, I had about twenty minutes warning that my buyer would be here. I made sure the washer was in the front room, ready to go, the closer on the door was removed (makes the door too narrow), the electronics were as put-away as possible, and the gun safe would be as much out of sight as possible. I had my normal carry piece on, but also made the 870 "cruiser-ready" - full magazine, hammer DOWN on an empty chamber - and slipped it in the hall closet.

As my buyer left, I made a note of his license plate. Do I expect any problems? No. But if something were to happen here in the next week or two, he would be Name One to give the police.

It's not about distrust, folks: it's about knowing that you are your own keeper.

"This above all...

... To thine own self be true". (Polonius, Hamlet, I:3:78)

Brigid has a post up with a few good pointers.

I felt it, rather than heard it, a coldness at the very base of my spine, a sense, somehow, that I was being watched. There was no sound, no steady growl of rustle or movement upon which our mind will tell us to hurry along. Yet, I knew it was there; the murmur of threat, the panting whispers of predators unseen.
[...]
I was operating on the instinct of an animal, one that is both predator and prey.
[...]
Instinct overrode logic and when I got to within a few feet of the car, I literally ran and dove in, slamming the door behind me. Echoing in that sound was a large WHUMP against the back of the vehicle as if something had bounced off of it.

There is a book out there, titled "The Gift of Fear", by Gavin deBecker, that touches on this. On page 6:

I've learned some lessons about safety through years of asking people who've suffered violence, "Could you have seen this coming?" Most often they say, "No, it just came out of nowhere," but if I am quiet, if I wait a moment, here comes the information: "I felt uneasy when I met that guy..." or "Now that I think of it, I was suspicious when he approached me," or "I realize now I had seen that car earlier in the day."
Of course, if they realize it now, they knew it then. We all see the signals because there is a universal code of violence. You'll find some of what you need to break that code in the following chapters, but most of it is in you.
(Emphasis mine - Z.)

We have surrounded ourselves with convenience, mechanical safeguards, and other things to insulate us from the dangers of the world, but at his most basic levels, man is an animal with animal instincts. Sadly, most of us have managed to suppress those instincts, choosing instead to trust to - what? Human kindness?

We are not the end of the food chain, literally or figuratively. There are predators out there. Some walk the woods and fields on four paws, others pad the streets on Nikes. We are developed to identify threats - consciously or not - and respond to them. Fight-or-flight, no? But we suppress that reflex, simply to prevent offending someone, or [sarcasm]worse yet, looking silly[/sarcasm]. Silly is a much better way to look than dead.

While out hunting, particularly when walking in or out of the woods in the dark, I don't carry my gun on its sling. I keep it at low-ready. My carry pistol isn't carried in "condition 3"; there is always one in the tube.

Why? Predators rarely call ahead to announce their intentions. Brigid was stalked by a large wild cat and had no warning; her revelation was that "thump" of a cat into a bumper. A mugger isn't going to wander the streets wearing a sandwich board that says, "MUGGING ABOUT TO HAPPEN".

Make no mistake: predators aren't invisible. We just have to know what to watch for. Brigid didn't look back that night. Would she have seen a wild cat stalking along the side of a lonely country drive? Maybe. Maybe not. It doesn't matter. She knew it was there. Those "urban yoots" who crossed the street towards you down the block? You see them. Are they going home, or waiting for you to come to them? As long as you know they're there and are willing to react appropriately, it doesn't matter.

Most predators, on being recognized as such - and recognizing that perhaps their intended victim is not the soft target they'd imagined, will move on to easier prey. Would Brigid's stalker have gone looking for a rabbit? Will those yoots let you pass by with nothing more than a token snarl?

I've blogged it in detail before, but I'll excerpt the critical parts:

...We pulled into the rest area, which was pretty empty. There was one other car in the lot, running, with at least two people in it. We parked a couple spots down and under a light, shut off the truck, stretched for a few seconds, then hopped out. Between the time I'd parked and getting out of the truck, someone had gotten out of the car and walked all the way around the back of my truck, stopping essentially right at the driver's rear corner by the bumper. The very first words out of his mouth were, "Hey, sorry to walk up on y'all like this."

My first reaction was to get both hands out of coat pockets and turn my left side slightly toward him, while my right hand rested on my belt just behind my hip - essentially on the sheath for my Leatherman tool, but also precisely where I would carry a pistol (this was prior to my carrying full-time - Z.).

He rambled on with a long story [...] [with] both hands up in front of him as he talked. Eventually he got to the point and asked for "fourteen dollars". Kind of a random number, but the easy answer was, "Sorry, I don't carry cash." He started backing away then, apologized a couple more times for, "Walking up on y'all," and got into the car.

Was he just looking for a few bucks in sympathy? Maybe. If I'd reached for my wallet, would a knife or gun have appeared? Maybe. Either way, he realized pretty quick that he'd picked the wrong prey, and disappeared most rikki-tik. Did I handle it perfectly? No. But that going back to deBecker, "I felt uneasy when I met that guy." That's all I needed to know.

I'm not advocating living our lives in fear and constantly looking over our shoulders, by any means. But we have to learn to listen to that little voice inside; the one that says, "This is a Bad Person/Situation/Place." Learn to be somewhere else. What's the worst that can happen? You leave a party/club early? Walk three blocks instead of one? Offend someone who really did mean well? Burn an extra half-gallon of gas? Big deal.

This above all: to thine own self be true.

Knock-knock, bang-bang

Over at ArfCom, I stumbled into this thread leading to a thread about the aftermath of a home invasion shooting (on XDTalk). Here's the first couple lines from the first post. Read the original posts; skim the comments as you see fit, keeping in mind that it's on the internet.

We are all ok thanks to my wife. There is no way to prepare for a phone call from your wife while you are at work that go exactly like this:

Me: Hi sweetie!
Wife: I need you home now, I just shot two invaders!
Me: On the way now! (end of call)

Part 1. "Home Invasion in Oklahoma: Mine"

Part 2. "Things we learned from the home invasion in Oklahoma"

Part 3. "I need to vent"

Got that?

One of the local news stations has a portion of the 911 call posted here.

I can not and will not presume to offer legal advice here. From a criminal legal standpoint, they appear to be in good shape. I don't know if Oklahoma precludes civil suits in justifiable self-defense, but it is something to be aware of.

One of the replies in Part 2 is this:

I was not happy with some of her questions to your wife, answers that could be used against her after the fact.

Please understand this: a dispatcher's job is to get as much information as possible. The more information we have, and the more accurate it is, the better-informed the responding officers should be. Our job is not to incriminate you, interrogate you, or judge you. We want to get you the right kind of help as quickly as possible. Giving our responders relevant information is part of that.

Yes, the recording of a 911 call can (and will) be subpoenaed as evidence in a trial. That said:

What you say on a 911 call will not change whether a shooting was justified or not.

Let me state that again to emphasize the point.

What you say on a 911 call will not change whether a shooting was justified or not.

What it COULD change is the perception of a prosecutor or jury (grand, criminal, or civil). Answer the dispatcher's questions concisely and honestly. I understand adrenaline. I know what it does. I've listened to more callers than I care to count with verbal diarrhea. Try to control it; the less filter a dispatcher has to do the better, and the easier it will be for a listener to understand things after the fact.

Either a shooting is justified or it isn't. Period.

Once the shooting is over, though, there's the rest of the situation to deal with. Read the posts up there again. The victim had to pack up their entire life and put it in storage in the space of twelve hours. In his words:

Our Life Before 21 Oct 2010

Two adults, two kids and one dog living in a 1300 square foot, four bedroom, one and a half bath home
[...]

Our Life After 21 OCT 2010

Two adults, two kids and one dog living in a 12 foot X 12 foot room.

They've received death threats. They've moved a couple times. The press plastered their names and address far and wide.

An armchair commando posted this about their choice to move:

You have two choices:

1) Refuse to back down, and not let low lifes scare you out of your home.
2) Move out of your home, fall into financial ruin, and vent about it on the internet.

Every man has to do what they think is right. I know what I'd do.

B. S.

He has to keep working in order to live. He can't be awake and at home 24/7. His wife can't be at home 24/7. Short of barricading yourself inside a fortress, there's no realistic way to handle this without moving.

An officer here was involved in a shooting earlier this year. The suspect died. The shooting was investigated and determined to be justified. Ten days later, the officer's house was burned down. He'd already sent his family away, for just that reason. And guess what? This was without the press posting his address and picture far and wide. He made it out with relatively minor injuries.

Trained SWAT officer. Unpublished address. Lost his house and nearly his life.

Relatively untrained citizen. Published address, face, and name. Chose to leave instead of risking more.

I have absolutely no issue with how he is trying to handle this, and I wish him and his family the best of luck.

Jay touched on this with a DGC post a few weeks ago. He also commented, "Instead, we have one dead goblin, one wounded - who if there is any justice will face homicide charges if there's any "commission of a crime" laws in place." Those laws are in place, and there are TWO goblins facing Murder One:

Police said Johnson and Kemp are charged with first-degree murder and burglary. The murder charge is being filed because a death resulted during the commission of a felony. All three suspects have had multiple contacts with law enforcement in the past. [KOCO News]

Reminder

Set the clocks back (last night, or this morning) and, more importantly, run around and change all the batteries in your smoke detectors and CO alarms.

It may save your life.

If your detectors are more than five years old, replace them. A basic battery-powered smoke detector will run $8-10 at most stores, and a CO alarm about twice that.

It's a good idea to have a smoke detector in every bedroom, the hallways outside sleeping areas, in the living room/den/office, and in the basement/cellar/utility room. There should be a CO alarm on each floor of the house.

If you're stopping by the local DIY MegaMart, there are a few other things worth picking up while you're there:
- an extra flashlight or two (Cheap LED lights are great, toss 'em in a drawer. Most come with batteries and are under $3 each.)
- a bulk pack of each kind of batteries you use; replace batteries all around the house while you're at it!
- a new fire extinguisher (one in the kitchen and at least one on each floor of the house; A-B-C class dry chem, preferably 5lb or 10lb)

If you are in a three-bedroom house, you should be able to do ALL of the above for under $200:
- 5lb ABC extinguisher (2): $80
- CO alarm (2): $36
- smoke alarm (8): $34
- cheap flashlights (5): $15
- extra batteries (AA, AAA): $20

Grand Total: $185

You've got enough left over for a pizza!

All kidding aside: Most of us have insurance on our homes, vehicles, life, health ... we carry guns, wear seatbelts, don't smoke, drink in moderation (unless it's a VC night), and are generally responsible citizens. We think nothing (or not much) of spending $200 on a case of practice ammo... so why would you quibble about spending that much on long-term protection for your home and family?

Followup, Names

I neglected to tell you what time I'd be pulling the trigger in that video post.

Around :40, I think the whackjob would have my attention.
At :45, I'd have my hand on my gun, maybe even cleared leather but kept it out of sight.
At :48 he's going to be looking down a .357" hole.
And at :55 ... boom.

(Like Wally said, don't want to ding my rims! Then again, there is a REASON I got 16" steel wheels on my truck instead of 17" alloys...)

-------------------------------------

There have been several posts around the blogworld about naming guns (or knives).
I think Tam may have started it.
Brigid rang the bell with this one.
Borepatch goes back in time.

Several folks I know have named their guns. One person I know names things compulsively. Cars. Houses. Apartments. Some folks seem to name things by flipping through the phone book, others with a sense of irony.

Here's the thing about you phone book namers... Words have meanings. If you're naming something with a personality - and believe me, some guns have personalities - it needs to tell you its name. It will. It might take a bit of time to do it, but anything that's worth naming will name itself. (For instance, our dog Dixie is absolutely convinced her last name is "goddammit!")

I haven't named any of my guns. Like Tam, I believe they're tools. There are certainly some I have a sentimental attachment to, but none of them have deserved a name. (No Snubby from Hell in my safe!)

A little exercise, Part II

In my last post, I asked what you'd do.

First: the driver of that car was in a lousy spot. Not her fault; it's traffic. It's not *always* possible to leave yourself an exit path, but try hard. (Pro tip: sidewalks are perfectly acceptable exit paths when you are in fear of death or grave bodily injury.)

Always keep an eye on what's around you when you're stopped in traffic. Watch the panhandlers, window-washers, etc. Drive with your doors locked. (Many cars lock them for you when you put the car in "D" - those of us who drive stick don't have that feature.) The driver in that video had NO IDEA what was coming, as s/he rocked out with Garrison Keilor.

Crazy dude with bat takes a swing at my truck while I'm stuck in traffic? I'm already reaching for the carry piece while I'm moving forward. Your BEST defense is ALWAYS to BE SOMEWHERE ELSE. The car in front of me? So I mush it's bumper. So what? Maybe I do hop the curb; flatten a sign pole or something. So what? Sheet metal is cheap.

If Mookie there steps in front of my truck while still swinging - well, he stepped into traffic outside a marked crosswalk. Darn shame what happened! In all honesty, though: you are making an honest effort to RETREAT from a deadly threat. If he is moving to prevent that escape and gets injured or killed, that was his decision.

You're driving a 20,000,000-grain bullet, kids. One that kills 45,000 people in the US each year. I know the deep-seated instinct to not hurt the car (beginning the first time Dad let you borrow it - "If you bring this back with ONE scratch on it, you'll wish you hadn't come back!") but always remember that things are replaceable. Use the tool you have available to you.

When he swings his bat at the driver's window (I can't tell if it breaks; it's irrelevant), it's time for him to be staring down the barrel of something. That is crystal-clear fear of imminent death or grave bodily injury.

If a look at the smiling face of Mssrs. Smith et Wesson doesn't convince him that perhaps this was a victim selection failure, they will be required to speak up on the matter.

If you're going to carry a gun, make sure you know you can do that. Make that decision well ahead of time. You can't bluff with a gun; if the situation warrants pulling your gun you must be willing to use it. Most states don't distinguish between the "threat of" and the "use of" deadly force.

A little exercise for you

There is plenty of crazy out there, folks. Plenty. Or perhaps, there are plenty of crazy folks out there. Either way, you get the idea.

Poking through Arfcom to entertain myself this morning, I found a link to this video:



You can watch the first thirty seconds if you want; it's not really necessary. Short-form translation: I'm a bad dude and can do what I want.

Watch it a couple times if you need to. Then tell me what you would have done, at what point (time stamp).

My answer will be up later today.

DGU

Over at Daily Pundit, Bill relates a classic example of the unreported defensive gun use. No shots fired, no one injured. Just knowledge that the intended victim was awake and armed was enough to send the cretins the other direction.

He wasn't the only one, though.

Last night after supper, MrsZ and I were sitting on the couch (a large green affair, very comfortable) reading. Out of the blue, our vicious guard cats (siblings, gray and white, one looks Siamese and I think is kind of special) went nuts and bolted to the living room window, where they sat snarling and growling. I got up and peered out the window but didn't see anything. The cats settled down and I went back to my book. Thirty seconds later, they were back up there and hissing at someone outside. I grabbed a flashlight (my Leatherman Serac S2, always in my pocket) and shone it outside, but still couldn't see anything.

Then I decided I wasn't going to live my life in fear.

I picked up my carry gun (a S&W 642-1 no-lock, with the original factory stocks, and stoked with 5 rounds of Federal HydraShok 129gr +p) from the coffee table, hefted it in consideration, and set it back down. I opened the safe and considered my options. The front row of long guns holds two 12ga shotguns (a Remington 870 with 26" vent-rib barrel with a modified choke, and an Ithaca 37, also choked modified) , a 20" AR (Anvil Arms lower with a DPMS LPK, 20" DPMS 1/8 upper and match A2 sights), a .270 boltgun (Remington 710), and a .22LR boltgun (Savage MkII BTVS w/ Nikon scope). None seemed appropriate at the time, so I picked up the S&W 4053 (with night sights) and slapped in a magazine full of 180gr WWB JHP.

I headed for the back door while MrsZ remained on the couch as my backup, the entire contents of the safe within easy reach for her. I looked out the door and to both sides before opening it, keeping my strong side back from the door and one foot behind the door to prevent someone from trying to slam it out of my grasp. The deck was clear.

I stepped out onto the deck with the pistol held down by my leg and flashlight in my weak side hand. I'd gone two steps and heard someone running for the back edge of our property. I flicked the light on and swept the area just in time to see a black and white cat disappear into the woods.

No shots fired, no one hurt, and successful home defense!

(No MS Paint, sorry hivemind.)

:-D

(Seriously folks; go read Bill's post. I'm not a fan of the "racking the shotgun always scares away bad guys" mentality, but it is step one to "9 pellets of #00 buck stops bad guys" and that I am a fan of.)
(And if you didn't catch that this is ArfCom-esque tongue-in-cheek, I'm sorry.)

Make the buffalo squeal*

In my last post, I mentioned Uncle Mike's holsters as being inexpensive but functional. "One size fits many," as it were. I stand by that opinion: a functional IWB holster for ten bucks isn't a bad deal at all.

However, that got me to thinking about options for an inexpensive carry setup. What are the bare minimums you need to carry safely. (Emphasis on safety; we don't want anyone rocking their carry piece Plaxico-style.) I'm not going to get into off-body (purse or fannypack) carry because I don't carry that way and can't provide insight into it.

So what do you need?
- a belt
- a holster
- a gun
- a spare magazine

I'll address these individually...

The Belt
If you're going to be carrying, a sturdy belt is essential. The braided-leather or single-ply nylon/canvas belts aren't going to cut. For that matter, most department-store leather belts aren't really sturdy enough either.

The belt is going to be taking the weight of the gun and holster, and distributing it across your hips. It needs to be rigid enough to support the full weight of the gun without allowing it to flop around, but also flexible enough to be comfortable to wear. This is not the place to skimp.

There are plenty of good options out there across the price range. On the lower end are the good nylon belts a la the Wilderness Instructor belts. Moving on up the scale we get to things like Filson bridle belts (this is what I wear, about $50 from LL Bean) and then to the even more expensive things like buffalo hide and into the exotics. It's easy to spend well into the $150-200 range just for a belt, but it's not necessary.


The Holster
This is where personal preference really comes into play. For style, leather wins. For comfort, leather usually wins. For durability, you're going to be looking at Kydex or other synthetics. If you want to go inexpensive, there are "one size fits many" nylon options from places like Uncle Mike's and Bulldog** for as little as $10-15.

A slight step up the price range gets us to un-formed leather from folks like JMG Holsters. I carry my 642 in an IWB 7.0 from JMG, and my only complaint about it is the sharp edge on the clip chewing up my shirts.

In the $40-60 range, you're starting to look at mass-produced leather and kydex that are formed to a specific gun. BLACKHAWK!, Fobus, Galco, Bianchi, Don Hume, etc, all have good holsters in this range. Alternatively, there are LOTS of small leather shops - often some guy working in his home shop a few evenings a week - that can produce one-off holsters in this price range. The tremendous advantage to this is the customer service. You want an IWB with 1.5" loops and a rear cant? No problem, just ask! (I have an IWB with two sets of loops and a dump pouch on the way for the 242. $80 from Lobo Gun Leather.)

Move up to the three-digit price range and you can get even more interesting bespoke holsters from larger names. Milt Sparks comes immediately to mind; as does Tauris Holsters. You can start looking at exotics, carving, stamping, etc.


The Gun
If you stop by the newsstand and pick up a handgun magazine (not to be confused with an "outdoors" magazine like F&S or OL), it's likely got some pictures on the front of some very pretty carry guns. Kimber is a perennial favorite, as are Dan Wesson, Sig-Sauer, Smith & Wesson, Wilson Combat, etc. It's not often you'll see the likes of KelTec, HiPoint, Bersa, Rossi, Taurus, or the other "budget" guns getting a cover story... but these are the guns a lot of us carry.

At the extreme low end, you can pick up a HiPoint C9 for about $150. No comment on reliability; I don't have one and wouldn't choose to carry one if there were other choices. However, it IS better than harsh words, and I look forward to the results of MultiGun's testing.

KelTec, Rossi, and Bersa can be found in the $250-300 range, but the list goes on. Smith & Wesson J-frames can often be found starting around $400.

A spare magazine for an auto will run you $25-30, a speedloader for a revolver is $10-15, and a pair of speed strips is $5-6. What you use there is up to you.

So, if you're going to go CHEAP:
Wilderness belt: $35
Uncle Mike's holster: $10
HiPoint C9: $150
Magazine: $15
200 rounds FMJ: $50
50 rounds JHP: $15
Grand Total: $275

That's for a full carry setup with enough ammo to practice, check reliability, and a box of carry ammo.


Move up one notch:
Filson belt: $50
JMG holster: $40
KelTec PF9/Bersa Thunder9: $270
Magazine: $25
200 rounds FMJ: $50
50 rounds JHP: $15
Grand Total: $440

That'll get you a slightly-to-significantly higher-quality carry gun, a better holster and belt, and practice ammo.


What if a revolver is your thing?
Filson belt: $50
Lobo holster: $75
Smith & Wesson 642: $425
Speedloader: $15
200 rounds FMJ: $60
50 rounds JHP: $20
Grand Total: $645

We're moving in to serious money here, but it's still a relatively inexpensive setup.


Let's look at the top end without getting into true custom guns:
Beltman elephant belt: $200
Milt Sparks VM2 w/ sharkskin: $145
Dan Wesson VBOB: $2000
Magazine: $40
200 rounds FMJ: $70
50 rounds JHP: $50
Grand Total: $2505


Literally an order of magnitude difference in price - but either one can save your life. It's just a question of how good you want to look doing it.


* - two internets to whomever can tell me the origins of the title
** - I had a Bulldog IWB pouch for the 642 while waiting for my leather to arrive. It was a POS and the stitching came out within two weeks; I re-stitched it with some heavy thread and that held it together for the few weeks I had left to wait. I can not in good conscience recommend their products.

Weighty matters

One of the prime issues with concealed carry is striking the fine balance between "bring enough gun" and "so much gun I don't bring it". In other words, enough power to be a realistic defensive firearm, but light enough that you will carry it always.

"Carry your gun - it's a lighter burden than regret."

Without descending into caliber wars, I choose not to carry anything smaller than a .38 at this point. For a while it was a .380, but the Bersa got to be uncomfortable (godawful pointy beavertail on that thing) and has been sent on down the road, to be replaced by a S&W 642 in .38Spl.

Last night in conversation with Weer'dBeard I mentioned carrying the new 4053. He grumbled about it being an overly heavy brick. This from a guy who carries a Commander-size 1911 - admittedly in Scandium, but still a serious gun. (There, ya happy, weer'd?)

I got to thinking about just what we choose to carry around on a daily basis, so tossed all my possible carry guns on a scale with a full load of ammo. The results were interesting!

My default carry piece, a S&W 642 .38Spl, with five rounds of Federal Hydrashock 129gr +P: 1lb 0.9oz




The new carry piece (when a holster arrives), a S&W 242 .38Spl, with seven rounds of WWB 125gr +P: 1lb 6.2oz




My first carry (not often!), a steel-frame Government 1911 .45ACP, with 7+1 of WWB 230gr JHP: 2lb 13.6oz




What's on my belt right now, a S&W 4053 .40S&W, with 8+1 of WWB 180gr JHP: 2lb 2.5oz




And while I could carry this one, it's unlikely I often will. A S&W 5946 9mm, with 15+1 of WWB 115gr JHP: 2lb 12.1oz




Now, anything you choose to carry, you should be carrying a reload for it. Not because you expect to need those shots, but (A) you might, and (B) malfunctions happen. Magazines fail at the worst possible moment (and in the middle of an IDPA stage is NOT the worst possible moment). Slap-rack-bang doesn't work, you better be ready to drop mag and slam home a fresh one.

So what's got the lightest reload?

Well, it should be obvious: six rounds of .38Spl on a speed strip. 2.9oz.


For a bit more than double the weight, you can carry eight more rounds of .40, at 7.5oz, or seven rounds of .45 for 7.6oz.




And at the top end, tipping the scale to 8.9oz, is 15 rounds of 9mm:


So how much are you really going to be carrying around? Lighter than regret, but some of these are heavy burdens:

642 with a reload (+1): 1lb 3.8oz
242 with a reload (-1): 1lb 9.1oz
4053 with a reload: 2lb 10.0oz
5946 with a reload: 3lb 5.0oz
1911 with a reload: 3lb 5.2oz

Doesn't sound like a lot, does it? Think about it hanging off your hip for 10-14 hours a day. There's a reason a lot of police officers have long-term back problems, and it's not just spending too much time in a patrol car.

So how much gun is enough gun? That's for you to decide on your own. You'll learn to dress around the gun you carry, though. Here are the four calibers in question:

9mm, .38Spl, .40S&W, .45ACP

Each of those is a perfectly acceptable choice as a defensive round. I would trust my life to any of them. Above all, shot placement matters though - so hie thee to a range and throw some lead!



Off topic, for you haters:






Yes. That is what you think it is. An Aimpoint on a HiPoint.

Edit: In his link love, Jay mentions including holster weight in the overall weight. He makes a good point. There are two reasons I didn't.

First and foremost: I've only got proper holsters for the 1911 and the 642. Leather is on the way for the other three, but t'ain't heah yet. It pains me to admit it, but the 4053 is riding in a cheap-ass Uncle Mike's IWB sleeve* right now.

Second: carry method is an intensely personal choice, and what kind of holster you wear will determine weight. E.g., a simple leather "yaqui slide" arrangement, for nearly any gun, will only weigh an ounce or two. A leather retention high-ride OWB holster for a 1911 could weigh north of a half-pound. Kydex or other plastic holsters are yet another variation.

Magazine pouches tend to be on the light side, but truth be told, I just drop a spare magazine or a speed strip in a front pocket. Your gun might be well-concealed, but nothing screams "I'm carrying!" like a magazine or two sticking up from your belt.

* - people rip on the generic Uncle Mike's stuff as worthless. I disagree. It's *inexpensive*, but their $10 IWB sleeves work just fine. I won't call them classy, but they are functional. Not everyone can afford a purty leather rig... which I think may be the topic of tonight's blog post.

A Man's Home...

... or in this case, a woman's home, is her castle.

I was chatting with a friend online earlier this evening, and she excused herself to answer the door.

A few minutes later she came back, rather flustered... apparently an urban yoot had knocked on the door and given her a shtick about selling magazines for the troops (after making some inappropriate suggestions regarding her and a fondness for "dark meat"). She said he was now in the kitchen... yet she was chatting with me?? I asked about that and it turns out her boyfriend/housemate was with this fellow in the kitchen, so at least he wasn't unsupervised in her home.

I made a rather pointed suggestion that she escort this young man OUT. Pronto. A few minutes later, her boyfriend did just that... and NOW she was shaken. In her own (paraphrased) words, "I don't even know how he got in, he just ... was. I'm from $URBANAREA, I know better! What if he was casing us? What if Boyfriend wasn't home??"

I suggested she make a quick check that purse/cell phone/wallet/ipod/keys were all in the correct locations - they were. Next suggestion was that she consider owning and learning to use a gun. (I've taken her shooting once, several years ago. It was bitter cold and we only shot one round of trap before calling it quits.) In fact, it was mentioned that she could drive herself to Dick's, or Walmart, and have a shotgun at home tonight. I'd take her to the range ASAP for some familiarization.

She declined, for now - but the seed has been planted. She's a petite woman, so I pointed her to either a Mossberg 500/505 20ga youth model, or a Remington 870 20ga youth model. Either one is an excellent choice, and the youth models have the tremendous advantage of being much more compact than the standard 12ga models (~37" OAL as compared to 46" OAL).

So, gun nuttery aside, how did this fellow end up in her kitchen?

Simple: he's a con man. Short for "confidence man", it's someone who gains the trust of the intended victim and then uses that trust to his own advantage. It may simply be smooth talk, or a sob story. In this case, I'm betting that the guy in question didn't wait for an invitation to enter when she opened the door. He just started talking and advancing into her personal space, and as she backed up a step, he kept going. Repeat...

Most people have a pretty clear idea of personal space. It varies from person to person, but you know where your limits are. If someone intrudes on our personal space, most of us will adjust our own position to one of comfort. Out in public, that's fine. No need to be confrontational without good cause...

In the home, however, your personal space begins anywhere you want it to, and you don't have to yield an inch to anyone. In her case, it should have begun at the front door... but she didn't press the issue. It's worth getting in the habit of opening the door with one foot wedged behind it. It will prevent an easy push-past, and if you do need to slam the door shut, you're already most of the way there. It also prevents someone from seeing too much of your house - like the home theatre setup, rack of DVDs/movies, Hummel figurines, big gun case... Or the pistol tucked on your hip.

"Mi casa, su casa." Hell no. Mi casa, mi casa.

Get a gun. Learn how to use it. Be aware of your surroundings.

Bedside gun

Yesterday afternoon, The Boss and I were discussing life, and she dropped this bomb on me:

"Can we get another pistol ... for me?"

That's kind of a no-brainer. I asked what she wanted it for, since I didn't think she had made the decision to carry. She told me she wanted a gun for the night table, since she's heard a few things go "bump" in the night.

Obviously, the contents of the safe are hers to choose from at her convenience, but those have all been my choices to suit my likes and needs. Before I left for work, though, we went through each of the suitable guns in the safe. She decided that a range trip will be in order to try each one again and see if we have something she's really comfortable with, or if a new purchase is indicated.

Because I am a Disciple, of course, the first thing I handed her was the 1911. She handed it back. 28-2? Back. 67? Back. 5946? "Don't you have another silver one that worked well for me?" ... I dug the Thunder .380 out of its box. Back. She went back to the 5946 and hefted it a few times, then decided that it would work for now. (I didn't offer the clearly unsuitable options.)

So. Two magazines of 115gr JHP and the 5946 now reside in easy reach for the Mrs, with the phone and G2 in their usual (bedside) places as well. We'll hit the range sometime in the next couple of weeks, and I may gently nudge her to shoot a few IDPA matches for some practical experience. If she decides the 5946 isn't the right gun, we'll go shopping.

Suggestions are welcome, but please remember this isn't a "what gun for a woman?" thread. What I'd *like* to see are the following: mid- or full-size frame; empty weight *over* 20oz, 9mm minimum, ideally single-stack mags. Wheelguns are acceptable options as well, but I already have a J-, K-, and two N-frames to pick from.


So - what's your "bump in the night" gun?

On Self Defense

Most of the bloggers have already read about Caleb's adventure this weekend. If you haven't, hie thee there and do so.

Those who read my old blog on Livejournal (now lights-out) may have seen my post about self defense and situational awareness, which I'll re-post below. Meantime, though, my own thoughts on what happened to Caleb...

He handled the situation as well as anyone could have. He went home without extra ventilation and with all of his property; there is no need for a lawyer or a stay in a cell. This is a Good Thing.

A few commenters have bashed him about the caliber choice (.25ACP), the carry method, the decision to no-shoot, etc.

Addressed individually:
Caliber: .25ACP is marginally less powerful than .22LR. That said, it's a personal choice and Caleb is well aware of his own situation - moreso than the rest of us are. Would a Tomcat in .22LR be more effective? Not particularly. A 1903/.32ACP? Perhaps. LCP/.380? Undoubtedly. But Caleb has his Jetfire... and it worked.

Carry method: those of us who have to worry more about printing than ease of access acknowledge the limitations. A pocket holster for a pistol is a touch slower than an OWB anything, and maybe slower than an IWB choice. For me, carrying means IWB and *tucked*, which is the slowest thing out there... but I don't want folks knowing I'm carrying.

Decision to no-shoot: this is likely the reason Caleb didn't at least get the nickel tour of the Greybar Motel. Carrying for self-defense means that you protect yourself from threats. When Goblin dropped the knife, he STOPPED being a threat. Caleb managed to perceive that and ease off the trigger in time to not ventilate this Choir Goblin. Gamer's reflexes? ;-)


We've all seen the "Rules of a Gunfight":
(1) Never bring a knife to a gunfight. Bring a gun. Preferably, bring at least two guns. check
(2) Bring all of your friends who have guns. not an option
(3) Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive. not needed
(4) Only hits count. The only thing worse than a miss is a slow miss. gamerboy would do just fine, methinks
(5) If you can choose what to bring to a gunfight, bring a long gun and a friend with a long gun. not an option
(6) If you are not shooting, you should be communicating, reloading, and moving. with who?
(7) Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.coffee ain't cheatin', it's winnin'
(8) Have a plan. go home alive
(9) Have a backup plan because the first one won’t work. but it did
(10) The faster you finish the fight, the less shot you will get. don't get shot by a knife

Any questions?

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Now, my tale of woe: (this happened in January 2009)
When I got my pistol permit, one of the things I started reading and processing more was works on self defense. There is plenty of good information out there. Massad Ayoob and Col. Jeff Cooper are two of the better-known names, but there are lots of folks with their own views and ideas. Some of it is internet trash, some of it is excellent advice, and some of it contains a few pearls mixed in with the slop. I won't tell you which is which; everyone out there parses and processes things differently and has different priorities.

One of the light-bulb moments for me was the Color Code. It's very simple, and is more of a mental trick than anything else. There are four levels: White, Yellow, Orange, and Red. NONE of these levels require the use of any kind of tool or weapon: the greatest self-defense tool ANY person can EVER possess is located between their ears. Training with that tool is the key. So, the colors:
White: You are relatively un-alert. Complacent. Familiar surroundings and so forth. In one sentence: "It won't happen to me."
Yellow: This should be a constant level if you're serious about self defense. It's not overly taxing. You aren't looking for any particular problem, but are aware of the people and happenings around you. "It could happen to me."
Orange: Someone or something has tweaked your attention. It may or may not be an active threat, but until you have decided, you are more aware and need to be looking for options. "It MAY happen to HIM."
Red: To borrow a phrase from LawDog, it's gone rodeo. Feces have met the impeller and you have decided to actively defend yourself. "It IS happening. NOW."

The other trick I've learned is the twenty-foot rule. Anyone within twenty feet of me can be an immediate threat. There are various studies on it; I won't go into details on those. What it comes down to is this: my immediate bubble is 2-5 feet in radius. That's MY space, and you best be staying WAY out of it unless I know you. From 5-20 feet, I am actively aware of you, where you're going, what you're doing, and where your eyes and hands are. Outside 20 feet, I've catalogued your presence and leave it at that.

So, with all that in mind, we'll get into yesterday's doing. Other Half had a game in Rochester, and I went along for the trip. After the game we went to the farm, where she did some animal-maintenance stuff, and then we headed out, into the midst of a pretty good snow storm. On I86, there's a rest area around Exit 41 (Campbell), and I'd been driving into the blizzard for about an hour and a half at that point. We'd been following the state plow the last twenty minutes and watching the rest of the morons on the road jockey for position and try to get around the plow. Being out of traffic and stretching for a minute sounded good. We pulled into the rest area, which was pretty empty. There was one other car in the lot, running, with at least two people in it. We parked a couple spots down and under a light, shut off the truck, stretched for a few seconds, then hopped out. Between the time I'd parked and getting out of the truck, someone had gotten out of the car and walked all the way around the back of my truck, stopping essentially right at the driver's rear corner by the bumper. The very first words out of his mouth were, "Hey, sorry to walk up on y'all like this." (1)

My first reaction was to get both hands out of coat pockets and turn my left side slightly toward him, while my right hand rested on my belt just behind my hip - essentially on the sheath for my Leatherman tool, but also precisely where I would carry a pistol. For someone who doesn't carry or shoot, it looks like a tired driver massaging a stiff back or working out a kinked shoulder. It's a relatively non-threatening movement but puts me in a better position for whatever might happen. This fellow had taken me from yellow to orange instantly.

He rambled on with a long story about being out of state (from Mississippi, but wearing an Alabama Crimson Tide hat), had a disabled vehicle down the road (conveniently just out of sight), and they were trying to get it towed to somewhere, etc. I kept half an eye on him, checked Other Half's position (between the truck and the other car, focused on the guy talking to me), and catalogued the car - at least two and probably three occupants, but silhouetted such that I couldn't tell race or gender. Driver's rear window half-down (odd, in a 15-degree snowstorm). Half-listened to the fellow in front of me, who had both hands up in front of him as he talked. (2) Eventually he got to the point and asked for "fourteen dollars". Kind of a random number, but the easy answer was, "Sorry, I don't carry cash." He started backing away then, apologized a couple more times for, "Walking up on y'all,"(3) and got into the car.

We went to the bathrooms, took care of things, and when I came out and waited for Other Half, they were just pulling out of their parking spot and heading back out to the interstate - medium blue or teal Buick sedan, older model, with New York tags. Not out of state at all, and no rental company would use a car like that.

I kept my eyes peeled for the next several miles, in case they really did have a broken-down trailer just down the road - I would have found a few bucks for them in that case. I never saw one, and I presume it was a sob-story scam. Yes, I'm a cynic and don't trust people. So be it. Was this guy an immediate threat? Possibly. I had four inches and fifty pounds on him, and I know he saw where my hand was. Could I have handled it better? I really don't think so. There are plenty of what-ifs to play out the scenario, none of which were favorable.

(1) Opened with an apology. It may be genuine, but it may also be a ploy to gain confidence.
(2) Hands up in front is frequently a sub-conscious defensive posture. My posture was a dominant one and he'd instantly switched to a submissive/defensive pose.
(3) Multiple apologies: please forget this ever happened and forget me.

After we left the rest stop, Other Half and I spent the next twenty or thirty minutes discussing self defense, situational awareness, pistols, and lightly touched on tactics. She had picked up quickly that something was twitching wrong, but didn't quite figure out what. Only thing I asked her to do? Next time, take three steps back or come around to my side of the truck so that she's not between me and targets*.


I don't carry all the time. (Yet.) Concealing a full-size 1911 can be tricky, even for someone of my size. Other Half is still not 100% comfortable with the pistols, and I respect that. However, I view a pistol as being in the same category as smoke detectors, seat belts, fire extinguishers, and insurance: you don't want to use it, but if you need it, you REALLY need it.

* - some folks are uncomfortable with the idea of a person as a target. I don't want to take a life, ever. I have had people die in front of me. It's NOT fun. The idea that I could be responsible for it is even more sobering. However, I subscribe to, "Your rights end where mine begin." Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If those are threatened, I will respond appropriately. My wife? She's an extension of me. Threaten her, threaten me. No one is a target until they prove that they need to be.