back up gun or not?

Z

zachkuby87

New member
I have a few questions about back up guns first off a little about me I just got into pistols recently I purchased my first pistol just about 3 weeks ago I like it a lot but believe I'm going to purchase a 1911 for concealed carry I fired a few and loved them. Now in the heat of the moment a lot of things can happen to where maybe I could be disarmed or just flat out miss or whatever it may be.would any of you guys be able to tell me if a second pistol carried on you I legal in minnesota? Do any of you carry a back up if so what do you choose to carry and how do you carry it? What are the pros and cons of carrying a second pistol? To you guys that choose not to carry a second why not? Me personally I believe the odds of me ever needing to use a pistol outside of my home in a self defense situation is less than 20% and even less of ever needing a back up but 20% is plenty enough for me to carry but where do you draw the line? When is it overkill? I believe as long as the second weapon is small enough deeply concealed it can't hurt to have it just in case. Have at it guys and thanks for your opinions and advice ahead of time.
 
I don't live in Minn, so I can't comment on your local laws. I do however carry a BUG most of the time, in a pocket holster. I'm thinking about getting an ankle holster.

The only downsides I can think of are the weight and possibly having different manual of arms.
 
I carry two full sized S&W autos.. One on the right and one on the left...both belt holsters open top....Pros is more firepower.... cons is more weight.:o
 
I always carry a BUG on duty, however, I seldom carry one off duty, I don't feel the need. I always pack at least one reload for whatever gun(s) I'm carrying.
 
I carry one gun for self defense to prevent injury or death for me or my family.

They want my wallet? Here it is.

They want my car? Here’s the key.

I don’t intend to start a war.

Jane doesn’t live here anymore.
 
No back up gun for me. It's enough of a PITA for me to carry my wallet, keys, and one gun. If I had to add a back up gun or even a cell phone, then I'm going to have to purchase a pink and white striped purse with sequins to keep all of my junk in one place.:D:D
 
I weigh the benefits versus cost. The benefits - having a BUG in an emergency. Cost - weight; carrying around something extra all the time with remote chance of use.

The odds are great, very great that I will never have to use my carry gun in my lifetime. However, for the 1 in hundreds of thousands chance that I might, it is an acceptable burden. What is the chance that, with the very remote possibility that I will have to use my carry gun, I will be in a situation where I will need a backup as well? The probability is very, very minuscule. In fact, I have never heard or read of any non-LEO having had the need of or used a BUG. Never! That is with my reading of many gun and defense magazines I subscribe to, newspapers, TV news, internet gun forums. Never. I can't say it never happens because I don't read or hear everything. But I simply have never heard of it for non-LEOs.

So, for me, the cost of inconvenience completely overrides any perceived or real benefit of carrying a BUG.

Yes, I have heard of "It better to have and not need...", but where do you draw the line? The decision is individual and personal.

Ron
 
I don't know about the laws outside of Montana, but I "sometimes" carry a backup.

My reason being that occasionally a bigger gun can't be used, and as such, I can just slip off my Sig and keep the .380 in my pocket.

If there's no chance of me needing to take off my Sig, I rarely carry the backup.

However I see nothing wrong with it, if you can carry it, why not? What does it hurt? When I do carry, it goes in my left front pocket.
 
This is a well discussed topic. It comes down to a judgement of risk and your personal cutoff on the probability of incident intensity.

Most seem to be deterrent, so one gun - even unloaded serves.

But some are very intensive - guns fail, mags spaz, you get the gun taken away. Now, this is probably more a police worry than for the civilian based on probability. But probabilities have to be judged subjectively.

Do you think that the inconvenience of a Bug is ok with you given how you judge the odds that you will be in the intensive one and your evalution of the high impact to you of the low probability screw up?

It's a stat question - like picking a p level for a t-test. The error matrix and successful outcome rates change.

That being said - a small bug never hurt anyone to carry.
 
i dont see the need for a BUG unless you are LEO (current or retired) or live in a high risk area. That being said, I carry one extra loaded mag with me, if 35 bullets cant get me out of a sticky situation, I just hope God says its not my time.
 
Why a BUG?

Sometimes things break. Sucks when it's your only gun that decides to break, at the wrong time.

That said, I usually don't carry a BUG, but sometimes I do. Like a previous poster, one reason I sometimes do is I may be going somewhere that will require me, at some point, to dress in a way that doesn't allow my preferred carry.

Another reason I sometimes do is in cold weather, I can put a BUG in the outer pocket of a jacket or parka, where I can get to it without unzipping or unsnapping anything.

But I normally just carry a .45 and spare magazine. (Magazines break, too. I worry less about round count, within reason, and more about redundancy.)
 
Does anyone ever wish they had an easy way to carry a BUG? I'm 6', 160lb of lankyness and carry a 3" 1911 as well as a spare mag and a surefire. With that loadout on top of keys/wallet/phone it feels like I dont have room for a pen in my pocket, although if I was a bigger guy and could easily conceal it I would have a BUG no doubt.
 
If your going to carry two then why not three, or four.........get the point?

I can see a cop carrying two but the average citizen is extremely unlikely to need one. Its kinda funny when people carry two guns to save their lives when at the same time they: smoke, drink, overeat, text and drive, etc etc.
 
bug

I carry most peoples Bug as a primary. If I am in a situation that requires more than an LCP during my daily routine than I have real problems. My reason for carry is the fact that I do alot of after hours on call response and am remote at best to LEO response. If I really get a bad feeling about my evening I will stage a revolver in the truck and carry my lcp on my person.

I am no chuck norris but I can handle myself. Also the after hours on call thing usually requires some sort of tool in my non shooting hand anyway.

Vermonter
 
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