Get her a CO drivers license.
The important thing is not the make but how good she is with what she gets and that she gets a gun soon. Hit Craig’s list. Have her take a friend for safety.
Otherwise she's limited to something on the approved list. She'll have to shop around gun shops in kali to find something she might like.
Also, many states forbid anyone other than law enforcement personnel having firearms on school property. Just saying. You mention protection at school. Can she have a firearm on school property?
Good luck.
Ok here’s is my honest advice as a certified CCW instructor,
There is little reason to carry a semi automatic unless one of well versed in the use of firearms or for tactical reasons.
If you dont keep it cocked and locked...it’s useless in an emergency...if you do keep it cocked and locked...it’s an accident waiting to happen.
The average number of shots expended in a self defense situation is 2....and the average range is 6 feet.
IMHO 9mm simply doesnt have one or two shot stopping power as well.
I always suggest that women carry a .38 revolver.
No safety to fumble with and if you pull the trigger it will go off everytime without worry of jamming or stove piping.
For axample S&W sells a hammerless .38 that is perfect for smaller hands and doesnt kick like a mule.....
To put it this way...if my daughter needed a gun...I’d get her the .38 hammerless revolver.
They also make a really nice carry purse with a velcro center pouch that is accesible in seconds.
Colorado Requirements for Residency:
Own or operate a business in Colorado
Are gainfully employed in Colorado
Reside in Colorado for 90 consecutive days
It looks as if she becomes a resident as soon as she takes the job, although 90 days' physical presence will also serve. I'd be grateful for correction by any Colorado FReeper who knows different.
So, probably best for her to purchase it there once she picks up her driver's license.
Buy a gun she CAN get where she’s at and get the one she wants whenever. Another option would be for dad to open his safe and loan her something. There are about a half dozen more but she needs protection, not the gun of her dreams. The final option is to get the hell out of California.
Handguns can only legally be purchased in your state of residence. That goes for private “unregistered” sales also.
Like the first replier said, she should get a CO drivers license or ID card.
I’m surprised that XD is not on California’s approved list.
That particular XD has a hard trigger. XD’s in general tend to have trigger over-travel and out of the box have a wide range of trigger-pull weights. There are after-market fixes though.
Other semi-autos for small hands that she might like are the new Glock 9mm single stack and Ruger’s LC-9S. Both are stricker fired with triggers that don’t require the hand strength of an arm wrestler.
I’ve fired both and have been very impressed. As much as I’m a big Glock fan, the Ruger’s trigger was quite impressive.
I agree with get a Colorado Drivers License.
If she has been there that long I am sure she qualifies. I have no idea how long it takes but it can’t be too long.
Loan something to her until she gets CO DL.
There is nothing wrong with her choice. I would have picked something different but so what?
BTW, the 9mm is hotter than the .38 special, especially out of a snubby.
can she claim to be an illegal from Mexico? Laws don’t seem to matter for illegals.
That being said revolvers are quite good for the innexperienced and small handed. Get a laser grip too. Nice to have. As far as I know most revelovers are allowed in the People’s Utopia of California. Practice.
Sadly. I have no guns. There is something about gun ownership that makes one a clumsy canoe operator.
Thanks all and we’ll give some fresh thought to the type of gun.
I dunno about CO, but most everywhere I have been in the Rockies, it surely isn’t hard to find a gun of any kind second hand without any paperwork. It is the preferred method among most folks... Shouldn’t be too hard to find a redneck boy (well, ok, she’ll have to go outside of her college town... rednecks don’t play well with liberals), pretty well any one of which hunts, and will know where to find anything of that nature.
Secondly, a little pop gun like that is no protection in the wild... at least not up here where griz and moose are plentiful. She probably can’t run a 44mag, but a .45 acp in a 1911 frame might be ok... Understanding that generally folks have a decent carbine laying around and that the pistol is generally thought of only after the carbine is empty...
There is something which is being repeated over and over on this thread and it is not true. It also gets stated on just about every thread about selecting the best handgun for whatever purpose.
“Revolvers go bang every time you pull the trigger”.
First of all, I love revolvers. Always have, always will. I particularly like S&W N frames. Models 24, 25, 27, 29, and 57 specifically.
I have watched cops qualifying and practicing many times. I specifically recall watching the Hattiesburg, MS PD back when they used model 65 Smiths. After just about every string, one would bring his jammed model 65 to the rangemaster to show him before clearing it.
A lot of things can happen to a revolver. If someone likes to cowboy the cylinder of a da revolver it can bend the crane. It is not too hard to bend the ejector rod. Revolvers suffer from dirt and mud worse than autos. Probably the most common is getting an empty stuck under the extractor star. There are others such as a build up in the gap between the cylinder and barrel, but you get the idea.
Now I don’t know which is more reliable, an auto or revolver. At one time it was probably revolvers. Right now I would guess it is autos. Brownings, Sigs, Glocks etc. are nearly 100%.
First of all, the XD-S 3.3″ Single Stack 9mm doesn't have a thumb-safety, it has a grip safety that automatically engages when your grip the pistol.
Secondly, 9mm Luger, .38 Special, and the .380 ACP are all the same caliber. The only differences are the length of the round, the weight of the projectile, and the power behind it. The 9mm Luger round is superior to the .38 caliber in almost all testing I have ever seen.
Thirdly, the .38 revolver is defiantly easier to learn to shoot, even if it doesn't have the power of a 9mm. I carry a .38 snubby for a back-up occasionally, sometimes a .380 which is lighter and smaller.
Finally, talk to a real-life instructor.
As I say I'm not a Certified CCW instructor, but I've shot many rounds out of all three, and taken many new shooter to the range, most of them women who wanted to learn the basics. I always suggest they ask the range or gun-store for qualified instructors if they're going to carry or really get into shooting.
I hope a real gun-person will drop by and correct any mis-information I've given you.
Normal procedure would be to do an out of state transfer:
https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/dmv/out-state-transfer-adult
Can take up to 10 days to receive the physical drivers license though. A temp license is used until the official one arrives.
I’m not going to get into the discussion on which gun or type. I have strong opinions, but that’s more about what gun is right for me, which one for my wife (if I could get her to shoot), for my daughters, and for my sons - all different answers.
However, I would very strongly recommend that you get her a gun that is legal to sell the state where it is purchased, and do not push the limits on any gun laws. A gun prosecution, even if she is eventually found not guilty, would ruin her year and more. I’d buy something similar to the one she wants in CA, after checking on transportation to CO, storage in CO, carry in the wilderness and on campus in CO, and other issues. You might have to go with a slightly different configuration than her first choice, but rule #1 of gunfighting is:
1. A gun beats no gun.
Get her a gun if and only if you find that she will be willing and legally able to carry it as planned. And do it in the state where she is authorized to purchase a firearm, either from a dealer in state or from budsgunshop.com or another online dealer and through a licensed FFL dealer in the state where she is authorized to make a purchase. If that involves getting a CO driver’s license, go for it. It’s really easy and fast to get one.
“Remote wildlife work..”
Sounds like government property to me. If so she will face many restrictions on carrying a pistol. Are sure she will be allowed to carry?
Nine mm semi-auto for wilderness critters????