Charley Reese Warns "Choose the Right Gun"

If you saw the recent video of "Old Mr. Grump" shooting the "Lucky Lawyer" in Los Angeles, you can learn a valuable lesson about which firearm to choose for self-defense.

The press rarely reports what kinds of guns are used in crimes, and usually gets it wrong when it tries. Nevertheless, I have concluded Mr. Grump used a .22-caliber pistol. Otherwise, the Lucky Lawyer would not have remained on his feet for so long.

Now, a .22, a .25 and a .32 will kill you, provided the bullet strikes a vital organ. Sometimes the person will bleed to death if the wounds are not treated promptly. But in a self-defense situation, you will not be comforted by the fact that your assailant bled to death an hour after he cut your throat or blew your brains out. And, as Mr. Grump demonstrated on camera, hitting a vital organ is not that easy for an untrained pistolero.

By the way, the numbers used to describe bullets refer to the diameter of the bullet. We use the English system, the Europeans use the metric system, but the diameters are the same.

Most people who know anything about guns recommend as a minimum the .38 special, preferably the .38 Plus P with hollow-point bullets, for self-defense. I have always personally favored the .45, either the .45 ACP or the .45 Long Colt. Of course, the .40, the .357 Magnum, the .41 Magnum, the .44 special and .44 Magnum will also more than do the job, but there are disadvantages to those weapons.

Firing a .44 Magnum in a close room is likely to make your ears ring for weeks. There is also the danger that the bullet will pass through the assailant, through a wall and into some innocent person. After all, most of us no longer live in stone castles, but in places built with cheap wood and plasterboard.

I am not recommending that you run out and buy a hog leg for self-defense. That's too important a decision to be made on the basis of a newspaper column. If you are, however, thinking about it and you are not familiar with firearms, you must first do three things.

One, you have to prepare yourself psychologically to take a human life. It's one thing that can't be undone. As my father said repeatedly when he was teaching me to shoot, "After you kill somebody, it's too late to be sorry." And so it is. In a life-and-death confrontation, you can't afford to conduct a debate on whether to pull the trigger or not. So, if you can't visualize yourself killing a human being and then living with it, you're better off buying a can of pepper spray.

Two, you must learn the laws in your state regarding self-defense. They are both easy and tricky. It's easy in that the law states that if you, as a reasonable person, believe that you and/or another person are in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm, you can use whatever force is necessary to defend yourself. If you are inside your own home, you do not have to retreat.

Now the tricky part. Outside your home or place of business, if there is an escape route, you must take it. Even if someone walks up to you and spits in your face, slaps you or even punches you, you cannot whip out your gun and shoot the person. Killing for the sake of honor is no longer allowed in our decadent society — more's the pity, as it would greatly improve manners. Nor can you claim self-defense if you initiate the confrontation. For example, if you start a fistfight and your opponent whips out a knife or gun and you shoot him, that's not self-defense. Even in your own home or business, if the assailant turns tail, you cannot shoot him in the back and claim self-defense. If you plan to use a firearm for self-defense, you had better know the law, or you'll see the inside of a prison.

Third, you have to buy your gun and then practice diligently to become really proficient in its use, so proficient that you can use it in the dark when you're scared and caught by surprise.

And finally, a politically incorrect word of advice passed along to me years ago by a veteran cop: If you have to shoot somebody, make sure the judge will hear only your version of what happened. In other words, kill; otherwise, your assailant will probably sue you.

Hi folks,

Hope you don't mind the vanity post here but I wanted to give you an update on my pocket gun search. Today I picked up a Seecamp .32 pistol (Model LWS 32). It's a beautiful gun and it slides very nicely (and inconspicuously) into my jeans pocket. I was assured that it is a very reliable weapon, which was my main concern. I also picked up an extra magazine for good measure along with a box of Winchester silvertips, which was the ammo the dealer recommended for this gun.

I know it's not a revolver (my preference) but I keep a nice big revolver in my car's glove box, and like I said, the .32 is inconspicuous in my pocket.

I hope you all approve!

Regards,
LH

I have two of the little seecamp .32's and stress as your dealer did for self defense....60gr Winchester Silvertips...ONLY !

Yes other stuff may feed and function for practice but unless ya can put 500 rounds of anything else thru it with out a malfunction.....don't do it for CHL carry !

I have a .380 version on order from Larry currently. I'm considering pimping that one out with some deep grapevine engraving from a good old boy down in Lubbock TX and some ivory or mother of pearl grips.

Somethin to carry when I'm wearing my zoot suit !.........Galco makes a really nice IWB holster that carry's real nice. I think it's called a push-up. Remember Galco not Victorias Secret or ya'll need bigger guns to fill that one.

Stay Safe Lancy...congrats on a fine selection for a pocket gun !

Why use a gun, just run him over.... Hey McGee!! 40,000 lbs at 75 would do the trick, I think? Course, you've only got one crack at him in the middle of a highway.....

They're an easier target when they're on the sidewalk.

A few weeks ago, there was a one-day furor in Detroit over the shooting/squishing death of a perp. Someone had been going around beating women and girls with a piece of rebar for several weeks, but the police had no lead.

The scumbag was attacking a couple of girls on a street corner, when a silver Chevy stopped, the passenger leaned out the window, and emptied a number of 9mm rounds into the perp. Then they backed up, drove over the curb, and drove over the guy. A woman in a car behind them saw everything, and also jumped the curb and ran over the guy, just to be sure. Both cars then drove away.

The media covered the story in some detail the next day, although the dozen or so witnesses could not agree on a description of the rescuers, or the color(s) of the car(s). One witness speculated the unfortunate bad guy had actually been struck be a meteorite.

The police said they were close to making an arrest, but were giving the good samaritans one day to turn themselves in. Since then (about two weeks ago), not one word has been said. I really don't thing the Detroit police (as opposed to the NYPD in the movie "Death Wish") are busting their butts on this case.

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