I am applying for a license to carry

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Any and all advice is welcome.

Don’t buy a Glock – they’re ugly.

Of course, most of the striker-fired plastic pistols are ugly.

The M&P Shield series aren’t too ugly.

 

[Natural Citizen]

If you plan to everyday carry a sidearm for self-defense purchase a high-quality retention holster, practice drawing your weapon from it, and never carry on an empty chamber. The time it takes to work the slide when you most need to defend yourself will get you killed. Good luck.

Yeah. Good advice. Gun handling is not the same as marksmanship.

 

[Muhammed]

At the age of 41 I will be applying. Got my basic firearms safety certificate and will be dropping off my application to the local PD in the next few days. Finally biting the bullet and buying a firearm that I hope I never ever have to use.

Wish me luck! Any and all advice is welcome.

Thank you

 

[playtime]

I put 7 bbs in a squirrel I had trapped in a cage at point blank and it hardly made a dent. California ground squirrels must be made tougher than your tree rats

i've had a few like that & i've emptied the clip at times - but i personally won't handle a 22 or a glock like hubby does. i can still get the job done though.

 

[Otis Mayfield]

At the age of 41 I will be applying. Got my basic firearms safety certificate and will be dropping off my application to the local PD in the next few days. Finally biting the bullet and buying a firearm that I hope I never ever have to use.

Wish me luck! Any and all advice is welcome.

Thank you

View attachment 551408

Get something that's cheap to shoot and then shoot it a lot.

Accuracy trumps everything.

 

[Ringel05]

Spend good money on a holster. Don't get one of those cheap Blackhawk nylon or Kydex holsters from Walmart. I have a small bin full of holsters I tried but didn't care for, so find the one that works the best for you. Serpa holsters that have a button release retention system will keep your pistol secure in the holster, but can malfunction if you end up rolling around in the dirt with someone. Most decent holsters with have either active retention like a strap with a snap on it. Or they'll have passive retention, relying on the tightness of the holster to keep the pistol in place.

Avoid wearing a holster that has the pistol pointed toward your groin or inner leg. Otherwise if you accidentally hit your femoral artery, you'll bleed out pretty quick. I prefer an inside waistband leather holster worn at 3 o'clock on my belt, that angles the grip forward a little, and points the muzzle down behind me. Milt Sparks makes a good one, or Bianci, or DeSantis. There are a lot of good holsters out there and you can pay up to a couple hundred dollars. Also remember that an accidental can easily happen when you're inserting a pistol into the holster while you're wearing it. If you take it out of the holster and are putting it back in, always make sure you don't get your shirt tail or jacket caught in the trigger guard.

Spare magazines are a necessity too. I wear two of them in a Kydex carrier on the left hip. And you might as well get used to carrying a small tactical flashlight with you at night, 300 lumens or so. The ones that use the rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries are the best. And always carry a phone. Not sure what pistol you'll be carrying, but always keep it in condition 0: One in the chamber, full magazine, and the safety if any, off. Glocks are good, because they don't have an external safety, and seconds count if you ever need to use it. And get used to wearing hoodies in cool weather, and large-sized Hawaiian shirts in the summer.

Also if you haven't done this yet, memorize those four rules, and live by them every minute of the day.

That's about all I can add, except for this: You pretty much give up your right to be an asshole when you start carrying. There are a lot of stupid people in this world, and they can piss you off sometimes. So you have to let a lot of shit slide and have nothing to prove. Your weapon it's not a tool for first response, it was meant to be used for last resort.

My favorite impromptu IWB holster............

 

[marvin martian]

At the age of 41 I will be applying. Got my basic firearms safety certificate and will be dropping off my application to the local PD in the next few days. Finally biting the bullet and buying a firearm that I hope I never ever have to use.

Wish me luck! Any and all advice is welcome.

Thank you

View attachment 551408

Practice!

Also, don't do anything you wouldn't do if you were unarmed, just because you're now armed.

 

[Ringel05]

i've had a few like that & i've emptied the clip at times - but i personally won't handle a 22 or a glock like hubby does. i can still get the job done though.

Your BB gun uses clips?

 

[whitehall]

If you get approved go to a range and shoot the thing.

Run some rounds through it, get real comfortable.

Don't just take the class, qualify with the rest of em and then forget it.

You and that weapon need to be friends.

So if you have to pull it out you don't handle it like it's a pound of cat shit.

I favor a revolver myself. Maybe you only have six or five but usually it only takes one, You don't have to worry about a safety or if a round is chambered. Just point and shoot.

 

[Natural Citizen]

Finally biting the bullet and buying a firearm that I hope I never ever have to use.

You'd do well to get yourself a laser pistol to practice with, too. Laser pistols are meant to practice proper gun handling and even target practice.

 

[marvin martian]

Your BB gun uses clips?

She's got something really special, it looks like this:

 

[playtime]

Your BB gun uses clips?

it looks similar to this

 

[JGalt]

Your BB gun uses clips?

5.56 stripper clips with loaders. I have a shitload of those things somewhere in the garage, as well as some for the SKS and 5-rounders for 7.62 NATO.

No idea where I got them and will probably never ever use them.

 

[Ringel05]

5.56 stripper clips with loaders. I have a shitload of those things somewhere in the garage.

Mine are all 8mm mauser.

 

[Donald H]

At the age of 41 I will be applying. Got my basic firearms safety certificate and will be dropping off my application to the local PD in the next few days. Finally biting the bullet and buying a firearm that I hope I never ever have to use.

Wish me luck! Any and all advice is welcome.

Thank you

View attachment 551408

If you've already made up your mind you probably don't want to know what the real experts say.

https://vpc.org/publications/unintended-consequences/

 

[JGalt]

Mine are all 8mm mauser.

Actually I have some of those too. And Carcano, and a couple others I forgot what they go to. Most of my 8mm stash is that Turkish stuff from the '50's. The case necks split a little when you fire them, they're corrosive, but they're hot as hell.

 

[JGalt]

If you've already made up your mind you probably don't want to know what the real experts say.

https://vpc.org/publications/unintended-consequences/

How many of those "real experts" carry a firearm every day?

Better stay home where it's safe, Bubble Boy.

 

[Ringel05]

If you've already made up your mind you probably don't want to know what the real experts say.

https://vpc.org/publications/unintended-consequences/

 

[Ringel05]

 

[Innocynioc]

I have had a concealed carry permit since I was twenty-two years old. I am seventy-two now. I carry regularly, but I have never even once in that fifty years pulled my hand gun and pointed it at anyone. I still am glad I was packing. It's insurance.