Nine-One-One……or……Three-Five-Seven?

I'd planned to do this one soon, and today seems as good a time as any, with POLITICAL blog aggravation being what it is.  So with that, I'm gonna take a little break, and write about a life & death decision.

We live in a nation today where NOBODY is safe anymore.  Even Mountain Home is no longer the little "Mayberry" it was when I first came here 39 years ago, and while I have owned, collected and hunted ever since my Marine Corps days, it has only been over the past 5 years or so that I have "packed heat" on a daily basis, both concealed, as well as openly.

It's getting too stupid out here to suit me these days, and while I'm not looking to be a "vigilante".....I'm not looking to be a VICTIM either!  Understand....I am in NO WAY advocating that everyone needs to go out and arm themselves.  This is a soul-searching individual choice, that amounts to nothing more than "if the shoe fits, wear it."

Like skydiving or sumo wrestling, guns aren't for everyone.  Gun ownership is a tremendous social responsibility.  Shooting is a fun sport and a survival necessity in perilous times.......but is terribly unforgiving of irresponsibility, complacency or neglect.

Firearms accidents DO occur, but only with the UNTRAINED or the IRRESPONSIBLE.  No gun has ever killed anybody on its own volition.  If you can't stay focused or are not safety-conscience, you simply don't need to have one.

If you DO "have it together between the ears"....and decide you need to get one, but aren't sure what to get, you might find this blog useful, and it will most likely have a part II and maybe a III........

Now, I'll preface this blog by saying outright......that collecting and shooting for over 40 years......does NOT qualify me as some sort of "expert".......it just means that I've been "collecting and shooting" for over 40 years, PERIOD.  But I HAVE formed up some ideas and personal OPINIONS I would share with those who are interested, concerning what makes sense to me in the gun world-----and what DOESN'T.

Before we start, I'll "pre-answer" a question I get asked occasionally when I have my jacket off and my holstered pistol in plain view ............"Why I carry one?"..........several reasons, but my favorite response is "mathematics!"------------------------"Mathematics??"

Yes.

The average police response time to a 911 emergency call in this nation, is about 23 minutes.

The average response time for a .357 Magnum is about 1,600 feet per second!

I chose to "do the math" many years BEFORE that phrase ever became popular.  And still TODAY, I don't dial "911", I dial "357!"

Now....by and large, most people choose a handgun for personal protection.  They "tuck away" nicely, and are more comfortable to use than a cumbersome rifle, or even a shotgun.

And you hear a lot of first-time buyers, who feel somehow that they have to "justify" what is a perfectly legal purchase......"Oh, it's just for "target practice" , "recreational shooting,"....etc.

Baloney.  You KNOW why you're buying that pistol.  It's a whole lot handier than just having a police dispatcher on the phone, and the odds are overwhelming that the cops won't get to the intruder, before the intruder gets to YOU.

But I'm gonna PAUSE at this point to say that you can have the finest pistol in the world at your command and a hundred rounds of ammo for it, but if you aren't WILLING to use it to save yourself, that gun STILL won't do you any good, and MAY do you some HARM, if you "freeze up" and it's TAKEN from you during the encounter.

And THIS is something only YOU can sort out in your heart and conscience, before you ever even THINK of walking into a gunstore. 

ie:......while I generally carry a 357,  TODAY I packed THIS one all over town.  It's a Ruger Redhawk, 44 Magnum.  But for all its power, it was merely an ornament in a holster under my jacket.   That I will use it unflinchingly if I ever have to.......is what makes it a USEFUL tool.

Plinking cans is FINE............Face-offs down the hallway are FINAL

And the unfortunate fate in life, is that there is no way to know for SURE if you CAN........until you'd had to do it.  In a parking lot, or on a battlefield,  that "first time" is always the same.

OK.............so after all the mental and emotional dust is pretty much settled......you've decided to buy a pistol.  If you're a "newbie", align yourself with someone who ISN'T---or better yet, take a gun safety course.  Might set you back about 50 bucks, but what's your life worth?....or the life of a loved one if there's an accident?

Alright?

All set?

Let's go SHOPPING for one!...........(to be continued in Part II)