Guns and Self-Defense

“I carry a full size fight’n pistol with a light and an optic and 3 spare magazines and if you only carry a J-frame, you are obviously not serious about protecting yourself.” We have all heard or said things along these lines, so let’s break the concepts down and see how they stack up to a little logic.

For my entire adult life, I have carried the biggest, most effective pistol I could. Part of that was because of Jeff Cooper and Massad Ayoob’s teachings, and part of that was my desire to not limit my shooting ability. As a professional law enforcement officer, I think this approach makes the most sense, so let’s look at why that is.

When on duty, it goes without saying that you should be carrying the most effective gun allowed by your agency. Effective in this case means ease of drawing under stress, ease of hitting, ease of reloading (regardless of how big your mag is), and of course, appropriate terminal ballistics.

When off duty, many of us are (were) on call 24/7/365. That means that I could be recalled from a vacation across the country, or simply be out with the family and have to report to some location immediately. Carrying the most effective gun off duty means I’m in the best position to respond, given the circumstances. While off duty, I may run into people I have arrested. Though this has only happened a couple of times in my career and both incidents were uneventful, it is good to be prepared for an angry, felon with a grudge. Finally, many of the places I have visited or travelled to in my career were large violent cities, with a large number of criminals running around. This increased the chances of me running into a problem off duty. There are other factors that go into the off-duty calculus, and Massad has written about them in some detail over the years so I would encourage you to read his material.

Now that we have made a case for the full size fighting pistol, let’s look at why we would not need or want one. I live in the country, outside a small town. When home, I have instant access to any kind of weapon I could possibly want. Regardless, the best weapon is the one on you, so I carry a gun on me around the house. As I’ve talked about before, I’m often in pj’s or workout clothes when at home, so a small, light gun makes the most sense. My HK P30sk is about the biggest and best gun I carry in that situation, though I also use J frames and other small revolvers. The point of carrying the gun at home is to immediately respond to a surprise situation. If I fall asleep on the couch and get woken up by breaking glass, I want a gun in my hand right away. If I have time to grab my rifle, great, but if not, at least I have something.

Of course, you should never be surprised, but while the house is alarmed when we are asleep at night, it is not alarmed during the day when we are up and about. Our motion detectors and cameras do a good job, but deer will occasionally set them off, and in some weather, they don’t work as well as I might like, so it is possible someone could get close to the house without me knowing about it. Falling asleep on the couch is my favorite tv show to watch, and everyone is in condition white when asleep.

If I leave the house to go to my small town, I often carry my full size pistol, but sometimes I do not. If I am carrying my P30sk, I have a good amount of ammo on board, in an incredibly shootable package. It is really just about as shootable as my full size P30L. What it lacks is an optic (fixable if I want, of dubious value regardless), a flashlight (generally unimportant for civilian self defense out of the house), a full length barrel (my carry ammo works fine out of its short barrel at any realistic self defense distance, but not all ammo does), and finally, a full length grip. The shorter grip (adjustable based on mag choice and capacity) makes it fractionally slower to draw as well as a bit more fumble prone under stress. Not much, but it is a little different than my full size gun. Overall, it may be the best civilian carry gun there is.

But what about J frames and guns like that? J frames are really experts guns for anything past card table distances. That said, many attacks do happen close up, and many attacks are over before 5 shots get fired. I will carry a small revolver into my local town and not worry about it. I will not carry one into the neighboring big city. In my local town, the population is very small. No place is safe and I don’t mean to imply that in any way, but the fact is, smaller populations have smaller numbers of criminals. Playing the odds, it is very unlikely that I will run into a single criminal in my small town. If I do, it is even less likely that they are part of a gang of criminals. If I run into a group of criminals, it is less likely still that they are going to start shooting up the shops and I’ll have to go Mumbai on them.

If I go to a bigger city, I am more likely to see crime, and more likely to interact with criminals. That crime will be more varied, and more of the criminals there already have significant police experiences. It only makes sense to me to carry a better weapon.

Is playing the odds a smart thing to do? That’s up to you, but it is absolutely true that lower population centers have less crime and fewer criminals. It is also true that if you are selected, the odds won’t matter any more. And violent crime certainly happens in small towns all over the country on a regular basis. What this really comes down to is your skill. Skill at seeing and avoiding problems is paramount. I was not born good at this, but over the years, I have gotten much better. Skill at shooting. My absolute difference in shooting ability from my P30L to my J frame is not that great in the bigger picture. You have to make that assessment for yourself, but I am comfortable with my ability to hit with my J frame. In many situations, I am not comfortable with only 5 rounds and a very slow reload, but sometimes the tradeoff is acceptable.

In the 90’s I advocated for the G26 or Kahr P9 worn in Thunderwear as the best choice a civilian could make. Low profile, effective, shootable, and basically completely snatch proof. Today the Philster Enigma fits that role, and even a bit better in some ways. The P30sk, either LEM or DA/SA, is now my choice. With a gun like that, I’m not sure the J frame has much use anymore, unless you are pocket carrying it. I don’t pocket carry, so clipping a small semi to my waistband works just as well as the small revolver.

Life is full of tradeoffs. Weigh the pros and cons of your specific situation and make an informed choice. Just don’t blindly follow some advice you heard on the internet.