Posted on 02/21/2026 4:53:48 AM PST by MtnClimber
SShould I carry a concealed handgun?
Yes. Next question?
Generally, the answer is still yes, but it’s a bit more complicated.
We carry because we understand the eternal battle between good and evil rages around us every day, and because evil can confront us anywhere at any time. We also carry because we can’t predict when we’ll need a handgun. If we could, we could approach that confrontation with a rifle, which is the minimum one should be wielding in a gun fight. Sadly, rifles are heavy and hard to conceal, so handguns are the best compromise.
Even if one lives in a relatively low-crime area, there is no such thing as a no crime area. Crimes of all kinds, including murder, occur in prisons.
I’ll not go into the makes and models of contemporary concealed carry handguns. That’s a book-length dissertation. However, one should carry a handgun with which one is accurate, confident and which is easily concealable and which is comfortable enough to carry every day.
Graphic: G43X, Author
A handgun of that type is the Glock 43X. This particular handgun, my everyday carry gun is outfitted with high visibility TruGlo sights and a Crimson Trace laser/light unit. They’re not absolutely necessary but aid in short, and long range, accuracy.
It’s vital to be able to affirmatively answer this question: am I willing and able to shoot if I’m facing an imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death? If you’re not convinced your life is of greater value to yourself, those you love and a just society than someone evil enough to take it, you’re better off accepting your chosen identity as prey.
Deciding to carry a concealed handgun carries substantial responsibility. It is not license to be a righteous avenger.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
A CCW permit also allows you to skip the waiting period on firearm purchases.
I remember someone saying I carry because I am too old to run and never learned to fight.
That Glock 43X is adorable, but for target reacquisition I would advise against loading it with +P ammo, or load it in the pattern: standard, +P, standard, +P, etc.
You might want to look into Byrna Launchers...
https://byrna.com/
As a college professor, if you would have asked this question 20 years ago, I would said no. Today, I legally carry concealed (ankle holster) on my person even while on campus. After observing umpteen examples of carnage created by a crazy individuals on campuses throughout the US, I refuse to be one of the sheep should such an ugly situation arise.
MFO
Should I carry a concealed handgun?>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Doth Ursus defecate in the sylvan regions of this world?
Just make sure that NO ONE knows you have it.My favourite is to carry it in a special leather lined pocket of a custom seamstress altered jacket.
All those donuts.
I’ve seen that big ball go through 1/4” plywood and fly off into the field.
That saying came out before the Ghanaian pallbearers.
I know two ways how to make a revolver not function.
One, spray your ammo with WD-40 (a cop lost his life in that one, ammo was compromised)
Two, lubricate your revolver with earth friendly vegetable based oil. It gums up.
Of course those will screw up any firearm.
Given the current political climate of the country (see “Good” and “Pretti”) when it comes to defending oneself from nut jobs, I’d stay uninvolved from disputes involving others.
I realize it’s not a noble attitude to have, but doing the right thing nowadays can get you a quick trip to prison.
Is the gun carried in a pocket on in your waistband, or is it holstered on your body? If the latter, then how? Is it holstered in the small of your back, around an ankle, shoulder-holstered? I'm interested and curious about the practicality of it.
-PJ
You don’t carry a spare tire in your car because you’re expecting to have a flat. You carry a spare tire because you’re not willing to endure the consequences of having a flat and not having a spare.
But the worst that can happen if you have a flat but no spare — in this day of universal cell phones — is you might have to walk to the nearest hilltop to catch a signal, then call for help.
By the same token, you don’t CCW because you’re expecting trouble, you carry it because you don’t want to have to suffer the consequences of needing one but not having it.
And the consequences of hot having a gun when you need it are far more dire than needing a spare and not having it.
And if you are gonna have a real gun fight one needs a more appropriate weapon.
You must use and train with a hand gun holster that can’t be taken out at an angle so you can’t be shot with your own gun. Putting a gun in a jacket or pants pocket means you can shoot your balls off or hit the main artery in your leg killing yourself.
Ford or Chevy? Boxers or briefs?
All that matters is that it’s accessible, it’s comfortable enough for where and how you’ll be wearing it, and it complies with your jurisdiction’s rules for concealability.
As for the latter, in some jurisdictions, “concealed” means there’s no visible clue that you’re carrying. This includes “printing,” which means the outline of some part of your gun is visibly pressing against your clothing. In those places you can get busted for “printing.”
In other places, printing isn’t a thing. That’s especially true in open carry states. It wouldn’t make much sense to bust you for printing when you could legally carry it completely exposed.
There’s at least a dozen different types of carry. Inside waistband, outside waistband, appendix carry, small-of-the-back, shoulder holsters, ankle carry, belly bands, pocket holsters, hanging around your neck, and others. I suspect nearly everybody who carries religiously — every time they leave the house — goes through a holster evolution. Most of what you think you know about carrying a gun probably came from movies & TV, and what works on a sound stage isn’t what works in the real world. You can’t tell to a certainty what will work for you until you buy it and try it.
The older I get the more old-fashioned my rig gets. As usually is the case, the old-timers had it right and the new gimmicks are just that.
You can shortcut the process by talking to people you know personally (and have a modicum of common sense) about how they do it.
One of the big adjustments is getting over the paranoia. When you first start CCWing, every time somebody makes eye contact with you, think, OMG! THEY KNOW! THEY KNOW! But they don’t know. Just do what Steve McQueen would do. Ignore ‘em.
I’m sure that’s happened more than once having a guy freeze in the moment. Self defense isn’t just having the right tools, it’s having the right mindset as well.
I have a leftist friend who is a big 2nd amendment proponent. I remember going to his apartment and using the restroom and saw a revolver. Asked him & he said he didn’t want to get caught taking a dump & someone breaking in. He had a revolver in every room of his apartment.
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