Home Front: Reader pistol ownership answers

I had four intrepid readers contact me answering my questions about their pistol ownership, and I am grateful for their trust and openness is laying out for what to some is a rather contentious topic.I wanted to gauge what pistol owners had to say about their decisions, training and mindset. In Victoria, Australia, where I live unless you are in the Federal or State Police, a licensed private security guard or a competitive sporting shooter, there is very limited civilian pistol ownership here. 

I grew up in a staunchly "no-gun toys" house, with exceptions made for my 1977 Han Solo and Stormtrooper blasters (which I still have). I did manage to trade my way into owning a .177 break-barrel air pistol whilst living in Dubai, UAE, in 1989, and left behind in Calgary, Canada in 1991. My dad gave me his Vietnam era Army pistol instruction, and I plinked away at paper targets, bottles, cicadas and the like. I did some quick draws, turn-and-shoots and the like, and generally made like a teenage Billy The Kid.

 Other than that, I've only had a limited experience with live firearms and some with laser trainers.  This is why I go out to the people with the experience to ask the questions. 

Obviously, I only have the replies from those who wanted to and did reply, so it's a subsection of my readers, but I think these folks have some interesting views and offer some insight to why people carry, what they carry, and how they carry. 

So, here are the answers to my questions from four pistol owners, all from the U.S.A., with LEO and Mil experience in some capacity in all four respondents. Lets hear it from their perspectives: 

How much pistol is too much pistol? 

• Ed N: A pistol is all about what you intend to do with it. If you are carrying it concealed you want something comfortable that you can wear all day. I don't like to go any smaller in caliber than a 9mm. If you go too big, you won't carry it and it becomes useless.

what is your current go-to pistol? 

• Ed N: In the woods I carry a Glock 20sf 10mm. Day to day, I carry a Ruger Lc9 9mm. For plinking, I prefer a Glock 34 9mm.  
  
  • I did have a question. When out in the woods, what might you expect to need a pistol for? Hunting? Defense? And if so, what and from what?
    • Ed N:I am much more worried about the two legged problems than I am 4 legged. I am not a hunter and would go well out of my way to harm an animal unless it is an immediate defense situation or survival was in question. I carry the largest caliber pistol with the largest capacity I could find because in the end, I just want to be prepared for anything. When I went camping, I used to carry a 44 magnum. Honestly, they are just a little too loud and reloading can be a problem in a pinch. The Glock 20 in 10mm seemed like the best compromise. I say all of this having never had to shoot at anyone or anything in the woods in all of my years carrying. I keep my pistol concealed and don't broadcast it and have never had a problem. However, I carry it for the same reason I carry a firestarter I have never had to use outside of practice. I would rather have the option there when I need it, than wishing I had it. And there is a pretty dramatic trade off. A couple pounds is a lot when you are hiking in the woods. Having a large pistol concealed on your person, (because having it in my pack would defeat the purpose of being prepared), is tiring. But in the end I would not do it any other way.

• Hunato (CONUS):Sig Sauer P238 
• Richard (Virginia, USA): EDC a Glock 19. Also carry a Glock 26 during the summer months when the 19, as small as it is, is to much with holster for the humidity. 
• Rob (Pennsylvania, USA): My go to pistol is a 1911.  I have a full custom on order, and I should have it soon.  Right now, my 1911 is a Sig Nitron.

what caliber and cartridge, and was this a deciding feature? 

• Ed N: 9mm is my go to caliber. With modern ammo it is the equal to 357sig and 40 with almost no ballistic differences. 9mm allows more rounds and a lot of options. You can pick up fmj (full metal jacket) rounds for cheap practice and jhp (jacketed hollow points) for self defense.  
• Hunato: .380 various PDR (price forces choice) 
• Richard:  9mm hollow point. 9mm has enough strong power and the size allows for a bigger magazine capacity. An additional deciding factor was that my wife is more comfortable with the recoil than a .40 or .45.
• Rob: The caliber I prefer is the .45, It was not the deciding factor in my choice, I just like the .45 caliber.

what is your motivation to own a firearm? 

• Ed N: Self defense and it is just fun to shoot. I have been shooting for 25+ years and it is a Hell of a lot of fun. 
• Hunato: I am a free man in a Republic.  I have children under my roof and two legged wolves (literally) come down my street time to time. 
• Richard: Raised around firearms in a law enforcement and military household, so firearms safety began as soon as I could walk. After my service, my father gave me a sidearm, and I have carried ever since. It is always better to be prepared and [not] need it, than need it and not have it. 
• Rob: I grew up on a farm and was always around firearms.  When I got into law enforcement as a career, naturally, the pistol training came with it. 

 

what was your motivation to carry a firearm?

• Ed N:I started off in an action oriented career before giving it up and going for money instead. I have been shooting and been around guns most of my life. 
• Hunato: Travel and home defense.  I also enjoy the sport of shooting. 
• Richard:  (as with reason to own)
• Rob: Even without my career choice, this world is getting dangerous.  I would carry a pistol regardless.

 

do you open-carry, concealed-carry or store-secure?

• Ed N: I conceal carry 99% of the time. I have friends that are very open-carry oriented, but I can do without the hassle of a soccer mom feeling threatened by a pistol on my hip and calling the cops. In my opinion, it is best to keep it completely concealed and hidden away from private eyes.
• Hunato: On some rural land I own, open carry.  Out and about conceal carry (license) at home ALWAYS store secure.  My oldest child was 8 before he realized we even have firearms 
• Richard: I am fortunate to live firearm friendly state (Virginia) and carry concealed ever day. During the weekend, I may carry openly while running errands, and when I do that carry a Glock 17. 
• Rob: Conceal carry.

 

what features of your pistol made it appealing for your use?

• Ed N: Overall size, grip comfort, ammo capacity, and accuracy with the pistol.
• Hunato: Can be carried condition One with high reliability, thumb safety (1911-ish design) my wife and I carry identical weapons, interchangeable. 
• Richard: I have stuck with the Glock family as they are inherently simple and safe to operate. In addition, if my wife is carrying the 26, and I am incapacitated, she can reload using the spare magazines for my 19 or 17 as I always carry at least two additional. 
• Rob: My Sig is the standard Sig pistol.  However, my custom 1911 was ordered with Heine ledge sites, a light rail, and a magazine well.  These, to me anyway, are needed for a true combat style pistol.

what training have you had?

• Ed N: I have had and later taught gun safety and target shooting. I actually spent more time learning tactical shooting with a shotgun than a pistol. While a pistol is the best self defense weapon, overall it does not compare to a long-gun.
• Hunato: Scouting Merit Badges, Law Enforcement Explorer Academy, Concealed Carry Permit Class, Active shooter class 
• Richard: My farther is a firearms instructor with the state, and have also trained during military service, although not as extensively as I do with my dad. With him, quick draws, fire from concealment, weak hand operations, threat identification, and more 
• Rob: Like I said, I grew up around guns and used them my whole life, for not only hunting, but target shooting as well.  I learned the safety issues surrounding guns at an early age. After high school, and during college, I joined the military, where my training continued and became more advanced.  Finally, my law enforcement experience has continued my training over the years.

what regular training do you perform?

• Ed N: I shoot on a semi-regular basis. Currently I hit the range about once every month. I tapered off a bit a couple years ago when ammo prices went through the roof. 
• Hunato: Monthly Range Day, weekly Dry Fire practice (including draws with Blue Gun). I used to think the NRA was "over the Top".  Now, after NY, PA, CT, MD, CO, PA, IL, CA, DC, and the English, Oz, NZ, and Canadian removal of self defense rights, I am a member. 
• Richard: As accuracy requires constant up keep, my wife and I go to the range at least monthly, more so if our schedule allows. In addition to that, we will randomly load a dummy round to simulate a failure and build muscle memory. I hope this answers your questions, and to add additional information, both my wife and I are ccw licensed in multiple states. We carry to ensure we do not become victims, and offset if that is also not putting ourselves into a situation where that could occur. Neither of us have ever had to resort to our firearm as a civilian, and hope never to need to. But I believe that I would rather carry for another 50 years, before seeing harm come to a loved one, and not have the tools to save them. 
• Rob: I continue to receive training through my department, and I shoot when I can on my own.

So, thanks to all the folks who sent me in replies, and I hope I've represented you all well.  It makes for an interesting read, and I am pleased to see responsible gun-ownership mentalities in place in all the replies. 
Be responsible, stay safe. I hope that none of you ever feed the need to use your pistols for anything other than because it's fun to shoot guns, or to put food on the table!

For those who object to all of this (and are still reading) , or thick skinned gun owners don't mind a very Australian ribbing, here's Jim Jeffries talking about an Australian take on the very American gun-culture.

And finally, to throw my own hat into the ring, if I had my choice of pistols to own, it would likely be the 
H&K SOCOM Mk23-Mod 0, being a "big gun that holds a lot of bullets", because I would want to put a lot of big rounds on target until it went away and accessories are what I'm all about ...

Review: how much knife is too much knife?

As you might have guessed, I'm rather keen on my edged tools. There is something very satisfying about a well honed blade cutting smoothly, and even more so when having a blade on hand means that a task or obstacle is swiftly completed or overcome. I've covered a variety of knives here previously, but something prompted me to ask myself "how much knife is too much knife?"

First lets address some local laws that I live subject to:

New Weapons Laws
"Release date: Thu 3 June 2010
Last updated: Fri 13 August 2010
The Victorian Government has introduced new laws to target knife crime.
From 22 August 2010 you can be searched for knives in a public place anywhere, anytime, with and without notice.
 
If you are 16 and over and get caught carrying a controlled weapon such as a knife, you face an on the spot fine of $1,000, or you may have to go to court and face a fine of over $14,000 or one year imprisonment.

This penalty is doubled if you are inside or within 20 metres of a pub, club or bar."

and some further clarification and explanation:


Controlled Weapons

Controlled weapons are weapons that can be used for legitimate purposes but require regulation because of the possible danger they pose to the community. This category of weapon includes knives that while not considered prohibited weapons, still are a potential danger to the community.
A person must not possess, carry or use a controlled weapon without lawful excuse. Lawful excuse includes:
a) the pursuit of any lawful employment, duty or activity
b) participation in any lawful sport, recreation or entertainment, and
c) the legitimate collection, display or exhibition of weapon.

Lawful excuse does not include for the purpose of self-defence. [Bold by author]

Now, as it happens, I hold an exemption to the Weapons Control Act, as a collector, and am also a member of several collector organizations, as well. I happen to carry a couple of knives on or around my person as part of my EDC, and I make damn sure that in doing so, I have good reasons quick to mind.

In making the choice to carry a knife on my person, I am aware of the risks, both legal and to health and safety. So, that being said, what do I carry, when, and why?

In the picture above is a small sample of my collection

1. Victorinox Swiss Army Knife - I keep this in the sun-visor of my car, good for opening things, picking teeth, fixing small tasks and personal grooming. I have had one these little guys since I was 5. About as inoffensive as a knife can get.
2. CRKT folding KISS - This is my every-day knife, I keep it in my Hazard 4 harness, and have used it for everything from cutting fruit and salami, to cables, opening boxes, cutting rope and picking splinters. Its my go-to utility knife for work cutting and first aid needs. Seeing as it sits well out of the public eye, and I have a variety of uses for it, I'm content with my ass-covering.
3. SAR Globaltool OddJob - Just as the name says, I use this little knife for odd-jobs. I usually wear it on my belt when I know I will be needing to do a lot of little cuts, unpacking furniture or parcels, or when I know I'll need to make one or two little cuts, quickly. Makes a great camping / hiking knife, and I also wear it when I know I'll be on First-Aid or safety Officer duties at events. Unobtrusive but getting a little "technical" for street-wear.
4. Schrade Army 10 - Totally a tactical knife. I've never actually used this other than during the review process, it falls out of my user-category. If I were an avid hunter or active duty Armed Forces, it might well fill I niche I would need, but as it stands, its too much knife for my little needs, and not enough for the bigger ones. There's nothing wrong with it at all, but it's "a soldier knife" and I have other needs and tools.
5. HHA LFK01 - Tactical all the way, this blade I gave to my partner as a gift a couple of years ago, as she has a thing for back-swept blades, but neither she nor I would wear it out in public, unless society had fallen. It's a very effective, rugged and sharp tool, but it wants to be in combat, so it lives in the collection only.
6. Hibben style throwers - I have several of these. They balance well, throw nicely and make for good box-openers, but don't believe what Under Siege teaches us, they don't actually make for good kitchen knives. Throwing knives are also listed as "prohibited items" in Victoria. Be advised.
7. American Kami Super Colubris - My beloved combat kitchen knife, this is my go-to outdoors knife, whether it is camping, BBQ'ing (though sometimes I fall back on my MSM KA-Bar knife for the same task) or just kitchen and household cutting needs. This is weighty, long and sharp enough to tackle bigger tasks, but fine handling enough for delicate fileting and slicing. Again, I wouldn't wear it on the street, but it doesn't leave my hip when out bush.
8. Boker 343 Scalpel folder - This interesting little blade lives in my bag, in a pen-slot, usually, or fitted in PLAS-MOLLE channels on my other gear, when I feel the need. It's long handle and thin, narrow and long blade make it an excellent precision slicer, and it is plenty pointy enough to make an excellent probing cut. It looks kind of scary, so it falls under my "first aid and technical precision tool" category, and rarely sees light of day. 
9. MichaelJ Fechner utility-blade - This beast is a serious industrial tool. I've worn it as a camp-knife, but really, its primary function is almost agricultural. Chopping woody branches and cutting through heavy canvas, breaking up pallets and prying up boards. This is a knife that wouldn't look out of place in a tradesmans toolbox or on a pipe-hitters belt. As with the Super Colubris, I wouldn't wear it to the shops, but when I'm gloves and goggles on, doing work, its perfectly suited.
10. KA-Bar Pestilence - Now, if I ever have to clear my way through some bad-assed bush I would be tempted to break out the Pestilence, there is a time and place for cane-knives and machetes. Any other time? You are showboating. It's a surprisingly spry blade in the hand, but unless I were needing to clear a field or lop some limbs, I wouldn't be going to this one.

So there you have it.  There certainly is occasion where the tool at hand may well me "too much knife" just as it might be "too little" but odds are, you can probably get away with less, in most settings, if you know what you are doing. This is why kitchen knife-blocks come with a variety, and all the knives have names and uses.

Be clever with your cutlery, be aware of any laws and legislation you are subject to, and always, always, be ready for anything!

Home Front: Licensing

In the process of making my own laser-tag tagger, I ordered and imported some parts that were seized by Australian Customs. Woops. It didn't occur to me that certain paintball accessories, namely a
SCAR-H stock mockup and a magazine mockup would trip the rules (not being actual markers, but accessories) but I was wrong. I was given the option of giving up my goods and going I record as having been warned, or going through the licensing processes to import paintball markers (and/or parts). This is a two tier process where one needs to apply for an import permit, and to do so requires either a retailers license as a reseller, or a Class P long arm shooters license.

There are a variety of classes of shooters license in Victoria, each covering a particular variety of firearm;
A-(Airguns,rimfire, non pump/semi shotguns),
B-(Muzzle loaders, center fire but not semi or full-auto rifles),
C-(semiauto rimfire with no more than 10rnd mag, semi-auto or pump shotguns with no more than 5 rnd mag, tranq guns),
D-(semi-auto rimfire with more than 10rnd mag, semi-auto or pump shotguns with more than 5 rnd mag, center-fire semi-auto rifles)
E-(military or paramilitary weapons MG's, mortars, RPGs, carbines (less than 75cm))
H- (handguns)
P- (Paintball markers)
Its worth noting that as far as legislation and enforcement is considered, all the above weapons are all treated the same. A paintball marker left in the back-seat of your car is apparently no different to an M-249 LMG, a SPAS-12 shotgun or Dirty Harry's "most powerful handgun in the world" so, I want to do the right thing.

As I've mentioned before, I'm not much of a gun-nut; we don't have any large terrestrial carnivores where I live, armed violent crime is pretty much a non-event here, we are unlikely to ever be invaded, I don't do sport hunting. I have probably an inordinate affection for militaria and I don't routinely hunt. So apart from a casual interest in collecting firearms of the world which I may well peruse to complement my collection of swords, knives and daggers, I don't have what I would consider a -pressing- need for a firearm, especially for my own day to day well-being, as I might were I back living elsewhere in the world. (Libreville, Houston, Dubai). I do like my Stargate LRP Lasertag pew-pew-pew and I have enjoyed paintballing in the past. Bush-ball, rather than tournament style.

So, in order to get my paintball parts, to build my laser-tag marker (which in and of itself doesn't yet require a license, but may soon, as an "imitation firearm" depending how the laws go) I fronted up, and sat a paintball safety course exam, and joined a paintball club as a financial member. I have filled in the forms to get my Class P license, and to import my parts. I already have a suitable storage container (being a steel locker, which can be "permanently affixed" to the place of storage, as it is less than 150kg empty). I will also submit my "Permit to Acquire a Longarm" form and THEN apply for customs to release my parts, which they may, or may nor do. They may also bill me for their trouble if I am unsuccessful.

A lot of trouble for a trumped up toy, perhaps, but I want to do things by the book.

I did so in getting my Governor in Council Exemption Order for the Control of Weapons Act 1990, as a bona fide collector of swords, knives and daggers, which along with my membership to the Australian Kendo Renmei keeps my collection of pointies above-board.