JAB

My KelTecs are both DAO. The P11 trigger is pretty stiff but the P3AT isn't bad and I have heard that the PF9 trigger is more like that of the P3AT. The reason some semiautos are DAO is that many of them are intended primarily for SD carry and have no manual safeties - the stiffer trigger acts as a safety measure, just like on a revolver. Just in the interest of your having all the information, some people believe that DA/SA pistols aren't good for carry. The reason for this belief is they feel that in a stressful situation, such as an SD shooting would be, a consistent trigger pull is important to avoid accidental/negligent discharge of a second or subsequent shot. In fact, I have a LEO acquaintance (who is a fan of Glocks for carry both on and off duty) who is of the opinion that DA/SA pistols probably account for a large percentage of 'friendly fire' injuries to LEOs due to negligent/accidental discharge by other LEOs. He feels that a consistent trigger pull - whether from a SA carried 'cocked and locked' or from a DAO - is preferable to a DA/SA setup for that reason because it will allow for better muscle memory from the first shot to subsequent shots. As I said, I really like my P95 but due to this concern I have practiced drawing it while simultaneously thumbing back the hammer so that the first shot will be SA just like all subsequent shots. Would I remember to do this in an SD situation? I really can't say.

Heh, funny thing - I personally hate Glocks because I have never held one that felt right in my hand or shot one that felt right when shooting it. I wouldn't trade my Ruger P95 for two Glocks. Not that they aren't good guns but just because they don't feel right, to me. Then, again, it has been a while since I tried one out. Maybe I should at least hold one sometime soon to make sure I still dislike them as much as I remember.

My wife and I saw it in the theater. Three times. She wasn't so sure about it the first time but was as fired up about seeing it the next two times as was I. I don't get off of work until 8pm and plan on stopping by Walmart on the way home to pick up a copy.

Good luck! Just FYI, IIRC, there are at least two models of the P95. I have a P95DC (the 'DC' stands for 'decocker'.) This model has no safety - only a decocker lever. It is a DA/SA pistol and is carried decocked. However, the trigger is obviously much stiffer with a longer pull in DA mode than in SA and firing a shot leaves the pistol in SA mode for the next shot (as does manually operating the slide) - meaning that, unless you manually thumb back the hammer before the first shot there is quite a bit of difference in the trigger pull between the first shot and subsequent shots. This takes some getting used to and requires extra care not to be startled when the second shot seems to happen a lot more quickly and easily than the first. I believe there is also a model with a safety but my impression is that the safety is also a decocker so that putting the safety on also decocks the hammer. I can't swear to that, though, and would recommend that you see what you can find about the various models as part of your research.

I think that is something everyone must decide for themselves. I don't believe there is any 'duty' to carry just because you have an HCP any more than there is a 'duty' to drive (or even own) a car simply because you have a driver's license or a 'duty' to carry a fishing pole simply because you have a fishing license. That said, from a personal standpoint, if I wanted to leave my firearm at home I wouldn't have spent the time, money and effort to obtain an HCP. I didn't get it just to have it and I could certainly have used that money on something else. Therefore, I will carry the majority of the time that I can legally do so - and I only say 'majority of the time' because 'always' is a little too absolute a term, for me. Let's say 'pretty much always, when legal'. Of course, I also understand that there are some folks who have their HCP so that they have the option of carrying and can choose to legally do so if they will be in an area outside of their comfort zone or in a place where they perceive an elevated level of risk. Now, to my thinking that overlooks the fact that bad things can happen at a time and place we least expect them to happen but those folks make their decisions based on their own ideas and criteria and have every right to do so.

My grandfather in law also has one of these in the old .38 S&W chambering. His maternal grandfather and grandmother owned a country store when he was a little kid. His grandfather also taught school so his grandmother would tend the store alone during the day. She kept the little revolver there, just in case. He has told me that I can fire it if I want. However, he only has a couple of rounds for it and I don't know how old they are so I'd want to get some new ones and I'd want to be sure to find some that are low-powered enough that they won't hurt the old girl - especially since these revolvers were apparently originally designed for black powder cartridges. My wife is also interested in shooting it as it was her great-great-grandmother's gun. Because of this little revolver, I looked up some information about the U.S. Revolver company. Basically, as you say, the U.S. Revolver Company was a mark of Iver Johnson. In fact, these were the same revolvers that had once been sold as Iver Johnson revolvers. When new technology such as the aforementioned safety features came about, Iver Johnson adopted those features for the guns bearing the Iver Johnson mark. However, they still had materials, parts, etc. onhand for the older design. In order to utilize those parts, materials, etc. they continued to manufacture revolvers with the older design and market them with the U.S. Revolver Company mark as a 'bargain line' of revolvers. These were sold via the catalogs of companies such as Montgomery Ward, etc. The information I have found indicates that these revolvers were only manufactured until all the old parts/materials were used up and then were discontinued which is why they were only made for a few years. Here are some pics of my grandfather in law's. As you can see, the grips were cracked and he has tape on them to keep them together. The rounds lying next to it are the ones he still has and the surface it is lying on is, to my understanding, a side-saddle that belonged to either his grandmother or his great-grandmother (I can't remember which at the moment.)

All I know is that I have never noticed a firearm chambered in .327 Magnum in any gun shop I have ever been in. Might have been one there but I haven't noticed them. I also don't recall ever seeing any ammo in that caliber. In fact, the same thing pretty much goes for the .32 Magnum. I guess you'd have to order the ammo if you ever came across a firearm chambered for it.

I own a P11. It is a good size for carry and accurate enough (after lots of practice) to be used for SD at private-citizen SD distances. It can even be enjoyable to put fifty rounds or so through at the range shooting at fairly close targets. It is not and will never be, however, all that much of a 'range gun'. It is a light, small 9mm that I can comfortably carry all day and conceal pretty easily (even OWB in a FOBUS holster.) I also own a Ruger P95. Mine was a wedding present from my grandfather in law (we were shooting it one day - the first time he had taken it out - and he decided he didn't like it and, since I did, he gave it to me) but I have noticed them used for around $300, recently. It is rather bulky and heavy, to the point that I thought carrying/concealing it would be impossible. I have since found that such is not always the case. In a leather belt-slide holster that holds it fairly high on the belt and at a bit of a cant (butt forward), I can securely carry and conceal it OWB, believe it or not. It does require a thicker/heavier/roomier cover garment than the P11 requires and honestly I have only tried it in cooler weather where I will be wearing a jacket or at least an unbuttoned, thick denim shirt over it. I don't have a 'special' belt for carrying but I do choose stiff, leather belts - preferably 'work' type leather belts that have two holes (one above the other) to buckle them rather than just one - I like Dickies work belts. Carrying the P95 this way isn't miserable, at all - even when riding in a car - but it is still much more noticeable than my P11, my Rossi five shot .38 snubbie or even the six-shot .357 Rossi I sometimes carry. If I carry the P95 for an extended period of time, I often feel relieved to be taking it off when I get home. It isn't so bad that I'd worry about leaving it in the car because carrying it is too difficult, though. It isn't always the best carry option from among the handguns I own but among my small collection it is probably the best combination for dual purpose range use and carry. I will say that mine has never jammed and the only problem it has had was with some ammo I got ahold of that had hard primers (boxes were white with no brand name and there was red around the primers - possibly military surplus and maybe even designed for machine guns.) Even then, the rounds that failed to fire did fire on the second strike. The up side to being bulky and heavy is that it is built like a tank and the weight absorbs a lot of recoil.

And by what right would a legally armed citizen be disarmed during the 'course of business'? Yes, I know LEOs must look out for their own safety but I also believe that LEOs should respect the fact that the HCP holder has passed background checks, etc. To tell the truth, I may not feel entirely comfortable with some uniformed guy standing outside my window with a 'Glock fortay' on his hip - can I ask him to disarm during the course of business, as well? I mean, I don't know the guy and just because he wears a badge doesn't mean I am going to instantly trust him - he might still be a loose cannon. If he is going to require a legally armed citizen to disarm then he should extend the same courtesy. Unless a crime that invalidates the HCP has been committed, I figure than an HCP holder has as much right to retain his/her weapon during a traffic stop as the LEO. My wallet has an 'insert' for carrying ID, debit card, etc. No, not like a 'badge' wallet, just a removeable insert that allows you to take out the ID, debit/credit card, maybe a couple of bucks and so on if you don't want to carry the entire wallet with you. It is a small, thin bi-fold piece that is slightly larger than the cards. You slide one side into a slot in the wallet to carry it in the wallet. Anyway, on the inside, both halves have a clear, plastic 'window'. I have my DL in one side and my HCP in the other. I also carry my fishing and hunting licenses folded up and tucked behind one or the other. I try to avoid getting stopped in the first place but if I do I figure that will give me an quick and easy way to show the officer both my DL and HCP in a more convenient package than trying to dig out two cards, etc. Since I keep the HCP side stuck into the slot in the wallet, if a store clerk, etc. asks to see my ID for a credit card transaction I can just open the wallet and show them the DL side, keeping the HCP out of view.

Great work! I see that the basketweave one seems to be lightly formed to the revolver. Did you wet-form it or is that just where the gun is making an impression because it is in the holster? Also, if it is wet-formed, did you do the basketweave before or after forming it to the gun? I'm assuming that wetting the leather to form would mess up the weave but I'm wondering if stamping the weave wouldn't mess up the forming to the handgun. I ask because I have made a few holsters but only used the basic tools and improvised with other, non-leather specific tools. I also went a little 'ghetto' with my finish. These were mostly to see if I could do it, at all. Since those were successful, I picked up a few more 'job specific' leather tools (including some baskedweave stamps) and would like to make something that looks as nice as that basketweave job you did.

Yeah, completely unintentional and I would just as soon have avoided it but it did pretty much answer the 'should I consider birdshot for HD' question to my complete satisfaction. Of course, those were just my results - you should always test various ammo in your own firearm before reaching any conclusions (heh, heh.)

At the Chilhowee Park gun show the last time I went (possibly the last time I go - there's never anything there for less than twice what I'm willing to pay) one guy had an awesome Davis .380 in awe-inspiring chrome. I am pretty sure this was a used gun. I asked how much (might have been willing to go as much as $75 to use as a beater or as a prop when I film my next gansta rap video - it would look cool hanging around my neck on a big rope chain) and he wanted well over $100 (can't remember if it was $150 or $180 - after I heard the 'hundred' my mind kind of blocked out the rest.) Sadly, I had to walk away and let the opportunity to own an awesome Davis .380 pass me by. Oh, did I mention it was chrome? Seriously, though, I kind of like cheap guns. When they work well, it's kind of fun to have something that you don't really care much about, that didn't cost a lot of money, but throws the same lead downrange just as well as a firearm that costs two, three or even four times as much. That said, the operative words here are 'cheap' and 'works' - they are cheaply made and I expect to be able to get a cheap price.

When I was a kid, my dumbass, irresponsible next-door neighbor (same age as me) wasn't paying attention to what he was doing and had a 'negligent discharge' from his pump BB gun. Hit me in the fleshy part of the palm of my right hand. Bled like a stuck pig. Not sure which hurt worse - getting shot, my mom digging the bb out (it completely broke the skin and then travelled about 1/2 an inch under the skin) or the rubbing alchohol she put on it to keep it from getting infected. Could have been worse, I guess. My sister is four years younger than me and was standing behind me, slightly to my right. Had my hand not been in the way, he would have shot her in the face - probably in the eye. That's about it for my 'getting shot' stories other than having bird shot bounce off a target about ten yards away and pepper me. Was wearing eye protection. Had on a short sleeved T-shirt and it didn't even break the skin on my arms or face. In fact, it didn't really even hurt - just felt like someone had thrown a handful of sand at me (and startled me pretty good.) The result is that A) I don't shoot solid targets with birdshot from that close and I have no confidence in birdshot as an HD load.

Just out of curiosity, though, would your take on it be any different if it were a LAW that you were violating, not just a company policy?

At the risk of coming across as a smart-alec, that sounds like a real nice quote to have engraved on a tombstone.

I was born in 1971 - sounds like around the same time as you - and I must disagree that things are better today than any time before. Personally, I know that some things in the '70s blew. Disco, for one. They say the economy was bad but, being toward the bottom end of what would probably be considered 'middle class' (the old 'working class' designation isn't used much, anymore) my family never had enough money to notice much difference if it was bad or good. I honestly believe that people - at least in rural areas - were more free in the late '70s/early '80s. Folks could still ride around with shotguns in gun racks in the back window of their pickup trucks and it was no big deal - in fact, a pickup almost looked 'naked' without one. You could still buy handguns at Walmart. You could still buy inexpensive used cars from the '60s in good shape - cars that had power and that the average guy could work on without needing a degree in computer engineering. There was more undeveloped land for hunting, fishing hadn't been turned into a past-time almost exclusively maintained for participants in bass tournaments and people, in general, were better about simply minding their own damned business. I like the Internet, cell phones, iPods, etc. as much as anyone but I'd go back to land lines, 8 tracks in cars and personal cassette players in a heartbeat to get back some of the individual freedom that we have lost (either through laws or through societal norms) in just the past thirty years or so.

As far as I can tell, there is only a shield on one side of the cylinder, right? I am a right-handed shooter and would want the shield on the left side of the cylinder. That would send the gases out the other (right) side of the cylinder - away from my face. When firing, I would hold the carbine as I hold any carbine/rifle/shotgun - with my support hand on the forestock (not grasping the receiver in the area of the cylinder.) Using such a grip, my fingers won't be in the way and the gases would be directed away from my face and support arm, right? Personally, I don't really see the problem - but I also haven't tried firing one, yet. I don't really have any desire for a Judge handgun. They sound like the worst of both worlds - lessening the 'oomph' of the .410 shells while not giving much accuracy in .45. The carbine version seems interesting, though, as I wonder if it wouldn't allow the .410 ammo to use more of its potential as well as possibly adding to the accuracy of the .45 ammo. My biggest hesitation would probably be the price range I expect Taurus to assign to it.

I keep a handgun - generally one of my .38 revolvers - and a four D cell maglight within easy reach by the bedside. If the intruder is already close by the time I am aware if his presence, this will be my HD protection setup. Also, at home whenever I am not in bed I have a handgun - and usually a small flashlight - on my person. My HD shotgun is somewhat hidden (wouldn't want an intruder getting ahold of it and using it against me or my wife) but I can quickly access it from the bedroom. It would only come out if there is a problem outside (as in someone still in the process of trying to break in or an unwelcomed critter in the yard) or if I have advanced warning. Therefore, there should be no need to 'grab and fire' the shotgun. I don't want to have to fool with a manual safety (I believe that operating the pump would be a simpler motor function under stress than operating a small, crossbolt trigger safety such as my Maverick Security 88 has.) Also, and I could be wrong, my understanding is that the safety on a shotgun only 'locks' the trigger - meaning it may not be all that drop/fall safe. For these reasons, I keep mine chamber empty, trigger pulled and safety off. If I need to operate the pump, I won't be waiting until I the intruder is close enough to pinpoint my position. If the intruder is already that close, I'll reach for the .38. In that case, if/when I go for the shotgun there will already be no doubt as to where I am - the muzzle flash from the wheelgun will see to that. I don't believe the 'clack-clack' to be that big a deterrent, at least in my situation. I live just outside a smaller town in East Tennessee. I think it would be unusual for a household not to have at least one shotgun, or some other firearm, and any intruder that breaks in while we are at home would have to A) already know that is a risk or be so addled of brain from meth, etc. that he (or she - no need to be sexist) might not recognize the sound for what it is, anyway. That said, I also think too much is put into the idea that operating the pump will 'give away your position'. I mean, these are two-bit, low-life home invaders we are talking about here - they aren't exactly geniuses nor are they Green Berets. I don't have anything in my home valuable enough to be worth it to any kind of 'professional' burglary team, don't have enough money to make it worth a professional kidnapping job and, as far as I know, haven't p'ed off any covert ops teams to the point that a CIA assassination squad or a team of Navy SEALS would be coming after me. Therefore, I doubt that quick noise would be enough to allow Bubba Joe Lowlife to pinpoint my location in another room. In fact, if I operate the slide slowly and carefully enough (remember that only going for the shotgun if I had advanced warning thing?) Bubba Joe probably won't even hear it.

I have my dad's 30-30, a Glenfield that he ordered from either Sears or Penny's way back in the 70s. I also have his 12GA pump (a Stevens, IIRC) that I believe he also ordered NIB. These were mostly for deer hunting (although the 12GA saw a rabbit hunt or two) and we didn't get to go hunting very often nor did we get that many shot opportunities when we did. We didn't do a lot of 'just shooting' and when we did it was usually with his .22 rifle - dad always said that he couldn't afford the ammo just to shoot targets, etc. We'd practice with them before going hunting and that was about it. When I reached high school age, I'd shoot the 30-30 now and then just because it was so much fun and I was pretty accurate with it but still didn't shoot it very much. I also shot the 12GA some but by then I had a single shot .410 and 12GA of my own so I generally practiced with them. Still, even when dad was still alive I put more rounds through both of them than he ever did. Well, I eventually went to college and dad ended up with stomach cancer (which he battled for seven years) so no hunting went on for more than a decade. When dad died almost eight years ago, I got the 30-30. Mom eventually gave me the 12GA, too. I clean and lube them but haven't fired either one of them all that much, still. I have other firearms that hold no sentimental value (i.e. I don't care so much about wear and tear on them) and I mostly shoot my handguns - I just enjoy shooting handguns more. My .38 snubbie that I bought NIB less than a year ago has a whole lot more rounds through it than either of those long guns. The long and short is that both the rifle and the shotgun are 30 years old or more and neither have as many as even 100 rounds through them. Of course, they aren't for sale but I do believe that some folks just never fire their firearms all that much.

What I find interesting are the pics I have seen of 'The Circuit Judge' - a revolver rifle (carbine) based on the Judge, complete with a shield on one side of the cylinder to protect the offhand/arm.

Could have been either. I guess I just found it ironic since all through the show they kept saying that survivors will be people who can 'think outside the box' or come up with solutions that other people might not - then one of the main characters dies as a result of an infection without even trying a pretty obvious 'alternate antiseptic.' I do think that they did a good job conveying the idea that, if society were to break down to such a level, it would pretty quickly be every person/family/small group for themselves. Even when he stopped to help the injured guy (okay, it was a little cheesy that the same guy later showed up and gave them a ride) the dad didn't spend a whole lot of time/effort. He bandaged the wound, gave him a little medicine and some water then left the injured guy there, alone, with a, "Good luck." I also like how they pointed out that, while our technology might be set back to 1800s level or so, we would be a bit of a 'hybrid' society. In other words, the discoveries that had been made since the 1800s - and the knowledge that goes along with them - would still exist. In their scenario, the experts might be wiped out but textbooks containing and explaining such knowledge would still exist - as would technical manuals, etc. Society wouldn't need to reinvent the wheel, simply get back to the point that the time/resources were available to utilize that knowledge.

I agree. I also just noticed that, if the posted wording is accurate, the proposed law would make it legal to have firearms in a vehicle on the campus of a public college. So, would the law still make it illegal to have firearms in your vehicle on the campus of a private college? The current law makes it illegal on any college, public or private. Wouldn't make much sense to change the law for public colleges and not private ones (not to mention it wouldn't really do me much good.) Sure, private colleges could still have a policy forbidding it (unless some version of the parking lot law were passed - or, even better, a law declaring the interior of a vehicle to be private property with the same rights afforded to the driver as to a resident in their own home) but that is a lot different than having a state law against it.

True. My point was more that those alternate antiseptics weren't even mentioned, as if they weren't even considered. The potato thing is understandable - not sure how many folks would know about that - but the alchohol thing is pretty obvious. I guess it bugged me that the 'paramedic' didn't even think to try it even though he had the wherewithal to have some homeopathic remedies on hand. Given that he had mint leaves to use to help clear congestion, you'd have thought that he would have the forethought to keep a supply of alchohol on-hand specifically for use as an antiseptic.

You mean like when his wife shot the guy at the warehouse, dropped the revolver and they proceeded to leave both the revolver (their only firearm) and the now-available (belonged to the newly dead guy) battle rifle lying there? Or maybe the part where the dad took the shotgun away from the little girl who was trying to shoot his son - but in the next scene he didn't have a shotgun (what, did he just give it back?) My favorite 'that was stupid' part was how the dad died at the end as the result of an infection from a very small wound. In the scenes near the end (shortly before the dad died), talking about the food supply the folks would need, the narrarator went into detail as to how they would have to grow a lot of root vegetables - potatoes and so on - in order to have the energy to do all the work needed. Irish potatoes contain iodine (that is why they turn a reddish brown when exposed to air.) If no antibiotic rub or medicine is available, you can slice a cleaned potato and use the cut part to cover the wound, effectively putting a weak iodine on it. Better yet, they also made a big deal about how the community pretty quickly started distilling white lightning. Hmmm...there is a general name for that stuff and other drinks like it. Ah, yes - alcohol! That stuff makes a pretty good antiseptic. There was no reason the dad (supposedly a paramedic, at that) should have gotten a fatal infection in what was, essentially, a scratch.

To me, this is a 'weigh the risks' type of situation. Yeah, I could probably get away with carrying one of my little BUGs (I have a KelTec P3AT that is easy to hide and a NAA mini in .22 WMR that is even easier to hide.) However, I believe that if I were carrying at work every day the likelihood of my getting 'made', as unlikely as it may be, would still be greater than the likelihood that A) I will need the firearm at work - or that a firearm small enough to completely hide out carried in a location where I would know it would never be seen (Smart Carry, for instance) would be of much use against a nutjob bent on shooting up the place with a full-sized handgun or long gun. Getting caught would mean not only losing my job but would also likely mean losing my HCP (so that it would no longer be legal for me to carry anywhere, effectively increasing the likelihood that I would be in a situation where I need a firearm and don't have one) and probably paying fines and doing jail time. Getting caught might even impact my ability to buy or own guns, at all, and would mean having a criminal record that could negatively impact my ability to get another job. I have seen other threads discussing this portion of the law, before. There is a lot of back and forth over what the phrases 'possess a firearm' and 'private vehicle operated by the adult' legally mean. Some interpret the law as you have, which seems reasonable. However, others interpret the law to mean that it is only legal if you retain the weapon on or near your person (possess the weapon) and you remain in the vehicle with the weapon. This interpretation says that if you are not in the vehicle then you can, therefore, not be 'operating' the vehicle and that if you are away from the vehicle while your firearm is in the vehicle then you are not in 'possession' of the firearm. Further, as the law makes no mention of 'loaded' or 'unloaded', whether or not you unload the firearm doesn't seem to matter. The latter is the way my HCP instructor (whose wife is a public school teacher, so he has a personal interest in this) understood the law - saying that the intent of the law is to make it legal to drop off or pick up students, remaining behind the wheel of the vehicle while having the firearm in your possession. His example was that if, when picking up a student, a teacher came to the car and wanted to have an impromptu parent-teacher conference the only way to be legal would be to drive off of school property, take the weapon off, leave the weapon in the car and leave the car parked off of school property. He felt that leaving the firearm in the vehicle on school property would still be a violation of the law - as would handling the weapon while on school property, even if you were handling it in order to take it off and unload it. Given our 'esteemed' A.G.'s opinion that a legal-to-carry park becomes illegal for carry if there happens to be a school-related function taking place there, I am hesitant to take a chance on which interpretation is correct. I do have to say that I like your interpretation better! I should probably contact the Department of Safety or other powers that be to get something in writing one way or the other. All in all, though, I would say that the law prohibiting carry on school property should be overturned on the basis of being unconstitutionally vague.