newbie to handguns question

[taltyman]

I may have convinced my wife that it is time to look into us carrying a handgun when we travel. Living in Texas and a lot of that time in rural areas I'm pretty familiar with shotguns and rifles and normally have one behind my pickup truck back seat. However in an emergency.... getting it out, loading it, removing the trigger guard may not be timely enough. So I'm thinking about signing the both of us up for a concealed hand gun class and getting one. So any ideas about what to look for? Our concerns would mainly be safety issues since we have grandkids around the house frequently as well as riding with us. I'm guessing a 22 cal. would do enough damage to a perp if the hole it made was properly placed. Not looking for anything high dollar but don't want a cheap poc either.

[SavageX25]

Glocks are THE most reliable hand gun out there, next up is the H&K USP (a bit pricey though) A good glock will run you about 350+ but you can find them used at a lot of places, very easy to maintain, and extremely reliable. Personally, I'd suggest a 9mm or .45 (9mm has penetration, .45 has stopping power) However, .22 pistols can be EXTEREMLY small and you can hide them in your pocket if you wanted w\o anyone noticing...it's really up to you, but I'd go with a Glock, USP, or Revolver just because of reliability issues...it would suck if you had to pull a gun out and it doesn't fire. If you DID get a .22 I would highly recommend a Walther.

[BMThiker]

If your lady has typical smallish hands, then you might consider .380 auto. Not as powerful as 9mm or .40 but the same diameter bullet as a 9mm. Plenty of punch for self defense and usually comes in small form factors like Taurus, Beretta and Kel-Tec.

If you want a 22, look at Taurus and Beretta pocket autos (6-8 rounds).

You also might consider 22 magnum options available in small revolvers.

[AceTechno]

I can't tell you what to do. However carring around a loaded gun is not a good thing. To much temptation to use it to start a gun battle or for crime. Not to mention if it gets stollen then what do you do? I have been around guns all my life. I would never carry one in the car of any kind or size. If I get car jacked, I would be more than happy to hand over my keys. There was a story that broke about 6+ months ago here in Socal. Off duty police officer was driving home from picking up his boy from day care. Some how his off duty weapon became visable from its concealed location under the seat. The boy sitting in the back seat picked up the gun and pointed it into the seat and pulled the trigger. A bullet was in the chamber and the gun discharged. The off duty officer was taken to the hosptial where he latter died. I have little kids at home they don't even know that I own a few guns. And they don't need to know. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.

[bisdak]

LOL, hopefully you wont be starting a caliber war on this. Looks like you need a 9mm handgun. It also have more rounds in the magazine. For carry, you can opt for 3.5 in barrel or 4 in. barrel, whether in 9mm or .40 if you opt to. I personally like Glock, easy to operate and maintain. Good luck!

[rbc24123]

I have a glock and a kahr (9mm). I like the Kahr for quick access (smaller) and the glock for it's reliability and easy maintenance (plus my laser fits better on it).

I agree with some of the folks voicing concerns on this post: I wouldn't recommend carrying a hidden/loaded pistol in your car, unless you're traveling through some very rough-n-tumble areas (and this from a kid who's seen quite a bit of "rough and tumble"). I don't know that even through some of the places I've been I could justify the absolute necessity of weilding a firearm I had hidden in my vehicle....then again, I'm not you. Please be safe and thoughtful, whatever you decide....

[taltyman]

AceTechno previously said:

I can't tell you what to do. However carring around a loaded gun is not a good thing. To much temptation to use it to start a gun battle or for crime. Not to mention if it gets stollen then what do you do? I have been around guns all my life. I would never carry one in the car of any kind or size. If I get car jacked, I would be more than happy to hand over my keys. There was a story that broke about 6+ months ago here in Socal. Off duty police officer was driving home from picking up his boy from day care. Some how his off duty weapon became visable from its concealed location under the seat. The boy sitting in the back seat picked up the gun and pointed it into the seat and pulled the trigger. A bullet was in the chamber and the gun discharged. The off duty officer was taken to the hosptial where he latter died. I have little kids at home they don't even know that I own a few guns. And they don't need to know. Good luck with what ever you decide to do.

Exactly the reason we've never considered one before. However being 6' 2 and 200 lbs does me less and less good since I'm closing in on 60. We raised 4 daughters and I always told them to drop their valuables, run and scream. I can still do 2 out of 3 of those pretty well. Again we are still just kicking this around but as we get older then we feel less and less confident without some type of equalizer.
Seems like I saw something about some that you had to wear a special ring to enable the gun to fire. Of course if those may be out of my price range.

Speaking of safety.

Not to hijack my own thread but for those of you with swimming pools... about 15 years ago we had a house with a pool and one day our young son was playing around kicking a soccer ball up against the wall of our house. We were watching TV and could see about 1/2 our pool through the sliding glass doors. My wife realized that she had quit hearing the soccer ball hit the wall and went to check on him. I'll never forget her scream and the sinking feeling I felt. She found him floating face down in the pool and when she first picked him up his clothes were so wet and heavy that she dropped him back in. She got him out and I started CPR while one of our daughters called 911. He wasn't breathing or responding and his face was grey and his eyes were rolled back in his head (another mental picture burned in my memory). As I was doing CPR I managed to get him to cough up some water once. The fire dept. made it in a few minutes and took him into the ambulance to work on him there. As I went to get my truck so we could follow them to the hospital someone asked me what happened and I can remember hearing myself say that my son had drowned.
He spent 3 days in an induced coma and I think about 12 days in the hospital, I don't remember how many in the ICU. The first time they tried to bring him out he couldn't breathe well enough on his own so they put him back under. He denies it now but he told us about the white light that you hear about people experiencing during near death.
He is adopted and was a special needs kid that we got when he was born (we were foster parents and later adopted him). He survived but lost some motor skills. He'll be coming to Ouray with us and is 21 now. So if you have a pool make sure that there is a fence and gate between your house and the pool. That was the first mod I did to that place when it was over. No matter what he does in his life I'm grateful to the Lord for giving him back to us.

[slither]

My fiancee has a HK P7 9mm. Very comfortable for her and she has small hands. Also has the squeeze **** which is awesome. It ****s the firing pin back and chambers the first round, Great pistol. Me 357 SIG.

[Shadow-Warrior]

I will only say if you do purchase a weapon, please carry it inside a “locked” safe in your vehicle unloaded at the rear of the vehicle. This way it is not exposed and you can travel at ease without breaking any State laws. If you ever need it, you will have it. It does not need to be exposed and lying around. Always you safe measures when handling all firearms even if it is unloaded, treat it as if it were. Be safe and good luck with your decision.

[max-9]

Happiness , is a warm gun

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